Oh,
my! It's Summer
“Bees do
have a smell, you know, and if they don't they should, for their feet
are dusted with spices from a million flowers.”
Ray
Bradbury (Dandelion Wine)
With Memorial day over,
we usher in summer in a very real way. Here in Alabama, the
temperatures are now in the 90's and the reproduction of life is in
full swing. I've already spent a day pulling trumpet vines out of the
fig tree, and weed-eating the Virginia creeper that's mounting a
take-over of the back yard. It's amazing how quickly everything goes
mad as soon as the earth warms up.
We humans warm up and go
slightly mad, too. I'm not sure what it is about summer that brings
out the wild romantic in people; maybe it's memories of youthful
summer adventures when school was out and freedom made us giddy. Even
elderly writers wax poetic. Pablo Neruda wrote in 100 Love
Sonnets: “Green was the silence, wet was the light, the
month of June trembled like a butterfly.” And, Maud Hart
Lovelace, not a racy woman by any account, wrote in Betsy-Trace
and Tib: “It was June and the world smelled of roses. The sunshine
was like powered gold over the grassy hillside.” My, my.
Perhaps the freedom of
wearing fewer clothes brings out the nudist delight in us. In
trolling for quotes this morning, I saw one by country music singer,
Kenny Chesney. I didn't read the quote because right beside it was a
photo of a half-naked Kenny with a beach backdrop. My first thought
was, why wear clothes if you look like that. Even old ladies perk up
in summer.
Summer is the season of
regeneration and rapid growth, and also, of love and ripe tomatoes,
of juicy peaches and cantaloupe. Walk out today and breathe in the
green exuberance and wildly active energy in your environment. Be
blessed and recharged. Life is renewing itself. You can, too.
In the Spirit,
Jane
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