Naked Ladies

My mother announced one day that there were naked ladies out in the yard.  I'm sure my father had to restrain himself from running to the window.  There are naked ladies in my yard now.  They always arrive unannounced, and it's such a surprise to find them standing pink and proud.  I don't know the true name of this particular type of common amaryllis...I've always ever known them as the naked ladies.  The tall stem shoots up before the green leaves appear, and then the large, pink trumpet-shaped flowers open in clusters.  These bulbs were given to me years ago by a neighbor who was thinning hers, and I tucked them in hide-away places around the property.  Fortunately, the gophers and ground squirrels don't find them as appealing as I.

When I was a kid, you'd wake up one morning and just know it was the day to take your jump rope to school, or your set of jacks.  Sure enough, when you piled out of the bus, everyone had brought their jump rope, too.  It was jump rope season.  Yesterday I spent the day washing comforters, pillows, and afghans.  I talked to my neighbor and my friend in Seattle, and they both said they were thinking of doing the same thing.  It's fall, and time to start thinking about getting ready for winter.  Regardless of the official date on the calendar, fall began yesterday here.  There is a definite change in the feel of the air.  There will undoubtedly be more days of high heat, but it will be summer's last hurrah.