Tonight, right now, will be the first frost/freeze in the Twin Cities of the season. It got pretty close to 32 degrees last night, and it prompted Mother to tell me to cut off the melons that are/were still growing Thursday night, even though I was sure that they could survive outside one more night.
They're not all that well anyway. The three melons that are out there are practically the same size they were when my parents left the country. The biggest is noticeably smaller than the melons I was able to grow last year, and the other two are barely the size of grapefruit. And one of them has these big splotches on the underside, so I think that it hasn't fully ripened or it got moldy. I think I might have to throw them out.
This raises the distinct possibility that, once my parents come home and see the melons, they'll blame me for not doing enough to nurture them. Father just told me to water them for five-to-ten minutes each day, which I did. In fact I may have overwatered them, which might be the reason why I have stunted melons. So they'll accuse me of skipping days and not watering them, or not cutting them off Thursday night, like they said, and letting them die in the frost. They'll come up with some bullshit to get at me. Pffft.
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I walked outside last (Friday) night to make sure that there wasn't a tiny melon I was missing. If there is one, might as well save it from the bitter cold that is descending upon us now.
But while searching for melons and picking up the tall branches that were blown off due to the stiff winds we've been having recently, I looked at the flower bed nestled up against the back side of the house and noticed something beautiful, unfortunately: Flowers that bloomed when I didn't even notice their petals the day before. So I looked closer and saw that not only were some perennials in full bloom, but there were some that were starting to bloom. I don't know how that happened; it wasn't warm this workweek, but it was about 70 Saturday and 85 Sunday. These flowers are confused, and they'll pay for that by dying tonight.
I don't want it to happen. There are flowers popping and staying strong all over the bed. For posterity's sake I smelled the blooming flowers -- oh, so sweet. I also snapped several photos of the flowers, those that are in bloom and those that have already bloomed. Because come morning, they're dead. Hell, they're probably dead right now. And I feel bad, really guilty that I can't save them. But what the fuck can I do? They shouldn't have bloomed.
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