A pre-cursor. A harbinger. A forerunner

It's been a tough year for the dahlias. They got a late start with the late winter. They got pounded by hail. They are just coming into their own now, kinda sort of. The bees love them.

But.

Not all of them bloom. We're not sure why some buds form and never develop. This one is withering before it even got started. If they bloom they seem to last a while.

We've got nice weather this week, but toward the end of the week it's looking like a harder frost is coming. That will be the end of them, and there might be more shots of withered blooms.

After my "run" today I was walking past a neighbour's place in the cut-de-sac behind us. I was a little surprised to see the door open, since he had passed away several months ago. I was a bit worried about the place being broken into. As I was walking up the steps someone came to the door. It turns out to be the brother, and they're still cleaning out the place. I think the intention is to sell it. Don't ask about the "run".

I hadn't known exactly how old he was, but it turns out he was just short of his 65th birthday. He had mentioned looking forward to getting a bit more money from the government soon and that would ease his budget. Not even 65!

Yesterday I had lunch with a buddy I haven't seen in some years. It was wonderful to catch up. She's of an age where she and her husband are starting to look at retirement options, and that affects her professional choices. She'd like to expand her business, but the timeframe puts some constraints on that.

To everything there is a season. That includes people. I don't mean to be all morbid here, but it's a reminder that if you have things to do, get on with it. Gotta go...

To cheer you up again, here's a nice red dahlia in it's prime.