We didn’t get the first frost

It’s that time of the year when we gardeners watch out for the first frost. One was predicted for our area, so we scuttled around the garden gathering all the green tomatoes we could handle, all the green peppers (even if only 2″ in diameter), covered the Swiss chard and last row of beets with sheets, and hoped for the best.

This morning when I looked out the windows I could see that my neighbor’s pasture, which is slightly below the level of my property, got frosted. But we escaped. This makes me think of all the “it could happen” things that surround us. And after our first “Fall Prevention Awareness” event, held at the Bugbee Senior Center in White River Junction, I’m still wondering if most people still take chances they shouldn’t–keeping that one pretty throw rug in place, not having a grip bar beside the shower, not having a night light in the bedroom, not getting that annual vision check, not drinking enough water. Let’s all remind each other about staying safe, please! We’re having another “Fall Prevention Awareness” event soon, this time at the Thompson Senior Center in Woodstock (Oct. 8, 10-11).

But back to the green tomatoes. There simply were too many, so I called up a neighbor and asked is she wanted some. “Oh yes,” she’d love them. We hadn’t seen each other for a while and had fun standing on her sunny porch, catching up and comparing our spaghetti sauce recipes. She’s about to turn 87, still keeps goats and chickens, still cleans other’s houses for pay, still makes endless jars of jelly, jam, and pickles to sell. How does she do it???? “It keeps me young,” she says, obviously happy she can still do all these things even if her arthritis really acts up sometimes. What a great role model!

She doesn’t do tai chi or yoga, she doesn’t meditate in any formal way, but I’m guessing that when she’s moving around the goats and chickens, that’s HER tai chi; when she’s stirring another batch of strawberry jam, that’s her meditation.