the tomatoes don't care

Aphelion

daily experience doesn’t notice a detail

within the truth underlying the marriage of Sun and Earth:

the great solar oven just touches its furthest from us today,

our orbit not a perfect circle but an ellipse,

the Sun today not 93 millions miles away but 94.5,

millions of miles further away than in January,

such knowledge wonderingly abstract and interesting,

far closer and more personal is how hot and sunny it still is,

how well the garden and small orchard take what is given

and, as long as moisture finds it way to roots, they produce,

inside, we need air conditioning and fans to keep us comfortable

and away from annoying mosquitoes, deer flies, and other insects,

blueberry bushes still produce, 

kiwi, muscadine, and native pumpkin fruit set, 

potatoes are ready to be dug,

okra, cucumbers, squash, and tomatoes ready to be picked,

second planting of tomatoes coming right along,

Kentucky Wonder pole beans take off,

the Sun is high enough now

that trees block our solar panels some 

and cut down power production

to under 400 kwh a month,

it’s high summer and the mountains call to me,

for now I need to be here in the piedmont at home

to both rest and work,

and to learn new concepts

far beyond any practical need for them.

by Henry H. Walker

July 6, ‘15