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I understand that some states have four fairly  consistent seasons. I have no idea what this is like, because in Colorado we often get all four seasons jumbled together, sometimes in the space of 24 hours. A prime example of this is our recent post-Labor Day weather event. For those of you who live out-of-state, here's the short story: we went through a string of record-setting 90° days this summer, right up to and including Labor Day. That evening a cold front blew in, the temperature dropped 60°, and we hit a new record low temperature for the date (around 30°). Snow started falling, and we hit a new record for the lowest high temperature on the following day (31°). My location received about 9” of snow. Yep, 2020. What more needs to be said?

I am a gardener and a weather geek, in addition to being a painter. Because of the forecasted snow and freezing temperatures I set aside my brushes and spent the weekend harvesting and covering those plants that I thought might be damaged. I also planned to pick plums. Plum trees at 7400 feet elevation are vulnerable to late season frosts that can freeze off all of the blooms, resulting in no plums, so we celebrate the years we do have fruit. I've been watching that tree since April, and there was, indeed, fruit on it.

The day before the freeze I went out intending to harvest the fruit off the tree. I had seen a few crows hanging around the area but didn't think much about it. When I went out to get the plums there was not a plum to be had and I think those crows picked all but one. So in the spirit of having only one plum in my harvest I present to you a painting of one plum.