Weatherwise, we have had a simply fabulous Spring, Summer, and Autumn, this our first year in northern Alberta.

There was a short heatwave I could have done without, but for the most part just about every day pretty fine. Enough rain and enough sun. Trees of green and fields of gold. Roaming deer, chubby bears, and elusive moose. My garden did amazingly and it was pleasure to be outside.

Madame Autumn continues to grant us balmy days, the lingering touch of summer; but if the weather forecast is to be believed in a few short days, the temperatures will plummet several degrees below zero, Celsius, at night and not get much above freezing in the daytime. It is to be expected. Game of Thrones is not reality, and here in the hinterlands, it doesn't take six seasons for winter to come, only three.

So if Ole Father Winter is about to take Lady Autumn roughly by the shoulders and lay a deep kiss upon her carmine lips, literally shake her bright sheaves to the cold ground, what is with the pale pink blooms? You are looking at wild Alberta roses, the ubiquitous summer blooms of the western prairies.

Wild roses smell divine and their hips, seed casings, if large enough, make a sweet bite ... if one is careful and avoids the acerbic seeds. Rose hips can also be made into a vitamin C rich herbal tea to fight off scurvy should you ever be without fresh meat, sauerkraut, and fresh fruit. Or if you just enjoy a warm fruity drink on a cold mid-winter and dark evening.

Minime and I have been enjoying long country walks. There are still rose hips a plenty. I think tomorrow we may set about picking a container's worth, dehydrating, and storing them for tea. The thing is I used to have a mild addiction for buying herbal. Let's just say, I stocked up.

Perhaps, we might just grab a few to make a decorative pumpkin display and work through the tea I have ... pause ... I went to make some tea. No not rosehip tea, but a Tetley concoction called Boost. It is a lovely warming brew, with flavors of peach, ginger, and dandelion. It claims to also be a source of B6. A source of vitamins or not, it is a delicious straight and would also be lovely with some citrus and honey.

Onto the poem of the day. The Black-Wit Reveller was written more than a decade ago and is housed in Strays, a Collection of Short Stories and Philosophical Love Poems. In it I imagine Nature, a hostess-extraordinaire, a la Great Gatsby style. Sleepy Autumn gathers up her bumble bees and fading flower leaves and leaves Autumn and Winter canoodle, while Spring awaits the turning of the year and her cance to host her own garden soireé.

Brew your own favorite tea or poor some whiskey and enjoy.

The Black-Wit Reveller

Nature, the black-wit reveller
to her requiem, Autumn
She clads no dirgeful ebony
but dons veils resplendent
She performs a dance most seductive and vivacious

Summer retires in praise and awe …
at the gyrations and twirls the wind performs upon her

Carmine, amber, Titian; vermillion, russet, citron—flushed
Fall to the ground, flagging, defeated, and wasted
The carousing carries on until every last sheaf alights
Lies forgotten, fading foliage, pitiful detritus
Evidence of a party long-since concluded

Nature stands upon the wreckage, naked and unabashed
Demanding of death, her beloved, bearded Winter
Way past last call, ice and snow, snow and ice …
to fill a forlorn and empty tumbler

They await out the night, under a blanket of ivory
Silent, bereft, and wondering
Wrapped in a crepuscular, cold embrace
Somehow still inviting

With sunrise, arrives the most gracious of invites
Scrolled upon a crocus petal; Spring calls, come to high tea
Dressed in daffodil and verdant green
Budding arbour blossoms flowing from your hair
There’ll be be-fuddled fledglings to sing an accompaniment
I’ll expect you no later than April

***

Words and Images are my own.

The Black-Wit Reveller is published in Strays. Strays is available in paperback or digital through amazon and your local libraries and bookstores. Click on any title below to further explore and support my writing.