Sweltering in Birmingham

July Heat

“Sultry, steaming, sweltering.  July. Slow down.  Or stop.  It’s time to shed ambition and expectation, along with commutes, clothing, cellular phones, calendars.  Now our wants seem to diminish…The pursuit of happiness becomes our personal priority this month.”

                          Sarah Ban Breathnach (Simple Abundance)

         July is the month in which harmony is supposed to reign.  Maybe that’s because the heat forces the very fire from our bellies, stupor sets in and we find ourselves sitting for hours, sweating ice-tea glass in one hand and vampire-lust book in the other.  What else can you do when it’s this hot? 

         Not only do we American’s celebrate our nations Independence Day this month, but a slew of other festivals occur around the globe—the Green Corn Dance among the southeastern Native American tribes, Dhamma Day, Buddhist holy day celebrating the Buddha’s first teaching, the Catholic Feast of Our Lady of Fatima in Portugal, the Greek festival of Demeter, and Obon, the Japanese festival honoring the ancestors, just to name a few.  I think we in the northern hemisphere celebrate so much this month because it’s too hot to think and work usually requires thinking.  Most of us head to the closest beach to cook our brains and our skins—and read about vampire lust.

         Life is simpler in July.  We aren’t in the kitchen because the Farmers’ Markets provide luxurious fruits and vegetables for eating straight from the hand, no cooking necessary.  I bought watermelon and tomatoes yesterday which will keep me fed for a week.  What else could one eat when the temperatures are in triple digits?  We watch the green lawn that we carefully tended in May and June slowly turn to brown, knowing that setting up the sprinkler is just too much of a challenge.

         According to Sarah Ban Breathnach, July is the month when we realize that the ambitions of our younger days—fame, fortune, success—are futile and contentment becomes our goal.  And the only way to achieve contentment in July in the Deep South, y’all, is a sweating glass of sweet tea and a book about vampire lust.

                                  Have a holy day,

                                  Jane