The Week the Four Seasons Meet - 9/17-9/24

There is no season such delight can bring,

As summer, autumn, winter and the spring.

--William Browne

Yeah.

And to capture all four seasons in one week

is nothing short of phenomenal.

 

Autumn burned brightly,

a running flame through the mountains,

a torch flung to trees.

Faith Baldwin

I loved the grass growing on the roof outside the window

on the 10th floor of Iron Blosom.

I could hardly resist taking a picture every time I passed by.

Autumn is the hush before winter.

French Proverb

Summer is glorious.

It is associated with abundance, fulfillment and happiness.

"Summertime and the living is easy."

George Gershwin in Porgy and Bess.

 

 Iron Blosom setting.

 

Spring is the time of the year when it is summer in the sun

and winter in the shade.

Charles Dickens

 

So Ed and I ride the tram to the top of the mountain.

Suzanne gave us a coupon but it expired the end of August.

"It says it right here," the ticket-taker growls.

Well, for heavens sake, who can read that fine print?

We had our hearts set,

so we pay the full fee and ride.

Views from the tram.

Our sister tram when we meet in the middle.

Shadows of the tram on the trail. 
This is the new restaurant at the top.
Closed until ski season starts.

From the back.                                     

Inside.

We're all fenced in now.

Not wilderness.

More like a city with a view.

 

 The other side of the mountain.

 So, we get in the car to go down.

As soon as the doors are closed,

they announce that it's so and so's birthday

and would everyone please sing Happy Birthday to her.

Holy Toledo.

We have to leave OckoberFest because they start to sing "Happy Birthday" to someone.

How do you get out of a tram 11,000 feet up in the air?

Ed plugs his ears and grimaces.

I look out at the view and pretend I have no idea who he is. 

I remember the days when I used to hike these trails.

The pool where we swim is on the far left.

I was totally intrigued with the shadow of the tram on the ground.

Every season hath its pleasures.

                  Officially Fall Equinox at 10:21 AM September 22, 2016.

                               Ed let us know. He keeps track of these things.             

 "You didn't ask me how many deer I saw on my hike," I say to Amy.

"How many deer did you see?"

"Two."

 

Cai and Suzanne came up for the potluck lunch

to celebrate his birthday.

We didn't share the carrot cake they brought up.

We enjoyed a private party in our room

and played "Oh Heck" up and back.

You'd think the scorekeeper would win

but no, I let DeRay win.

DeRay and Ed were on the 11th floor.

Amy and I were on the 10th floor.

It was a long, long walk down the hallway to the elevator

and a long, long walk to the room;

but to take the stairway was close

so we did that.

Every night as I'd leave their room after 11,

I'd say:

"Don't worry about me in the stairwell."

It was downright spooky

and eerie.

But nothing ever got me 

and they never called to see if I arrived safely.

Someone could have been lurking in any one of these alcoves.

 Sometimes the views are breathtaking.

Speaking of lurking,

the icy jaws of winter draws nigh.

Fall and Winter share the mountain

 The snow will not relent.

Determined.

We swim on.

Summer, fall and winter.

Usually the pool is almost too warm,

but this year it was almost too cool,

which is bad for its reputation.

 

Amy under water.
The next morning:

Winter Conquers!

Winter is the king of showmen,

turning tree stumps into snowmen

And houses into birthday cakes

And spreading sugar over lakes.

 Smooth and clean and frosty white,

The world looks good enough to bite.

That's the season to be young,

Catching snowflakes on your tongue.

Snow is snowy when it's snowing,

I'm sorry it's slushy when it's going.

Ogden Nash

 We slushed to clean the cars off and load them,

wondering if we were going to get frost bite on our bare toes and fingers.

Summer, fall, spring whereforth art thou?

The pool was mite too cold so Ed took a spin on the treadmill -

'er that is, three Eds.

I relaxed on the leg press.

A nice warm fire makes us forget the frost bite.

Scenes as we travel down the canyon.

To finish the week,

we stopped at PMT

to see the magnificent performance of
Sting's Broadway Musical

The Last Ship.

DeRay's phone rings.

It's Brooke.

NO!

IT CAN'T BE!

OUR BASEMENT FLOODED AGAIN?

HOW MANY TIMES?

Karlton and Brooke vacuumed out water for 4 or 5 hours.

Amy packs out carpet squares and starts the endless laundry.

DeRay stood on his feet for 3 hours vacuuming.

Way too long for him.

Eddy helped unload the cars and then unloaded the dishwasher,

which he didn't appreciate.

I mean, it's hard enough to come home and

have a week's laundry to do

and food to put away

and unpacking.

Who needed this?

Nearly 3" of rain in a day or two.

More than our sump pumps could handle.

This might be the swan song for the carpet squares.

We can't re-lay them one more time.

The good news is, as Amy says,

"We don't have to use the humidifier."

She is the most inconvenienced.

Two-thirds of the house is high and dry.

"I really despise floods and these carpet squares," Amy writes on Facebook on Monday.
"Not fun!! Are you guys done with cleanup yet?" responds Melissa.
"We have all the carpet up and out finally THANKS to Brooke's family, and then we'll just wait for everything to dry and I did a million loads of laundry," concludes Amy.

 Some picked the garden - beans, tomatoes, cucumbers, broccoli.

Loaded for the dump.

Four Seasons

The leaves fall as a call to autumn.
The harvest ends and early snow comes.
The moon comes up, bringing the night as
Time rushes forward in hopes of sleep.

The whole earth slows, as winter approaches with
The warm embraces replaced by wind.
The trees turn from red to black.
Time waits for none on its way to bed.

The song of birds begins to fade.
The whispering breeze becomes a lion's cry.
The white lands we shall soon see.
Time waits for winter's passage now, the last season.

The year ends and the snow fall slowly.
The cherry blossoms flower in a wonder of spring.
The sky's children become rain instead of snow.
Time has awakened once more.

The rain begins to melt, the spring of life evolves.
The lion of March exits the calendar as a lamb. 
The last three months crescendo into the heat.
Time surges forward an hour of daylight.

The sun pelts the earth with a ray of light which
The children leave school to play in during summer.
The flora is bountiful in its presence.
Time begins speeding faster and faster.

The animals wander out in the world.
The last month of summer signals the return to an old friend
The last plant bears fruit.
Time begins to slowly calm down and fall in pace.

The final three month rotation has begun.
The burning sun cools away into a soft caressing star.
The end of twelve months has come in autumn.
Time has completed one full year.--Kevin Wong

The Human Seasons

Four Seasons fill the measure of the year;

     There are four seasons in the mind of man:

He has his lusty Spring, when fancy clear

     Takes in all beauty with an easy span:

He has his Summer, when luxuriously

     Spring's honied cud of youthful thought he loves

To ruminate, and by such dreaming high

     Is nearest unto heaven: quiet coves

His soul has in its Autumn, when his wings

     He furleth close; contented so to look

On mists in idleness—to let fair things

     Pass by unheeded as a threshold brook.

He has his Winter too of pale misfeature,

Or else he would forego his mortal nature.

John Keats