It feels like June has snuck up and tapped me on the shoulder, out of the blue. Whenever I step outside, the sound of insects, the vivid green against bright blue sky, and the heat of the season all seem omnipresent. I'm not sure if that's part of why I have been feeling overwhelmed this week, as though I've been weighted down with things to do while at the same time shifted into slow motion.
Yesterday I opened the back door and the red tails were having a fit over something. My daughter came in later with a lovely photograph that made me realize yet again how far we are into this season.
Today I was on the front porch, looking at the garden beds, noting that the muscadine grape vines I cut so severely back only a month ago have come back with ferocity and are taking over again. The trumpet vine is doing the same thing. I have visions of a grape arbor on the side of my porch, and a bed that is, while somewhat wild, a bit more ordered. What I have is pure chaos out there. Lovely, but out of control.
Like me and my eroding schedule. I've got to get the routine shifted before it gets any hotter, or just give up on riding until fall arrives.
The summer solstice hasn't even rolled around yet and already I'm longing for autumn!
Sometimes the seasons are sweetest when they're just around the bend from where we are. But when I slow down in the morning and do things with a quieter tempo, I make the most of the rhythms that sing this time of year.
8 comments:
We're not into the very hot days yet, thank goodness. But I know what you feel like when you refer to being out of rhythm. Most days I feel overwhelmed with so much to do and so little time to get it done. I'm sure you will get in sync soon with a routine and the season of summer.
Thanks, Arlene. I took one of my standby homeopathic remedies last night, feeling that perhaps some of my out of sync-ness is coming from physical unbalance. I did wake up feeling more "myself" - and not quite as slowed down. We'll see.
I noticed that the temps aren't going nearly as high today so that too will help.
I just want to sit on that porch with you and drink some lemonade. We're getting cold, rainy grey gloom this week, so some sun and hot temperatures sound like just what I need to feel summer is here. I love to watch the red tail hawks soaring.
Victoria, it's a great porch for beverages of all kinds. :)
Billie, that porch is just made for donkey lounging. We have a porch here - the house is 150 years old and has a sensible porch that runs from one end to the other. I've been up on there and find it most satisfactory. There's something very civilized about a porch.
Sheaffer, I LOVE old houses and many of the features that come with them, like full-length porches!
I think part of why I love our house here so much is that while it is not old, it was built with some of the features of older homes, and the porch is of course one such feature.
We currently have the front yard taped in for the horses to use every few days, and the way we've done it, they can access the porch (while visitors are blocked out!)... I love sitting out there and having them come right up to the steps.
Have you ever read Tasha Tudor's book about her little cottage and gardens? I think you'd love it. I'm surprised she didn't have donkeys - I think her philosophy fits well with the donkey way of life.
Billie, you and I were meant to live in another era - a gentler, slower time when the porch was a fair weather social centre. Ours has a big tree close by so one can hear leaves rustling and it features some excellent embelishments in old wood, - perfect for a light snack. I've told Herself to hie hither to the book emporium to purchase me a copy of the volume you recommend. Sounds just the thing for a summer read on a shady porch. She can mow the lawn while I read.
I hope she finds the book for you - I have a feeling you will love it.
Here is a quote which I wrote about in posts you can find in the archives:
"Just for fun, my family invented a religion like the Shakers we called Stillwater. I'm eldress, and we have a big celebration on Midsummer's Eve. It's really a state of mind. Stillwater connotes something very peaceful, you see, life without stress. Nowadays, people are so jeezled up. If they took some chamomile tea and spent more time rocking on the porch in the evening listening to the song of the hermit thrush, they might enjoy life more.
Stillwater believers are very hedonistic. Life is to be enjoyed, not saddled with. Do you know that lovely quotation from Fra Giovanni? He was an old monk from away back who wrote to his patron, 'The gloom of the world is but a shadow; behind it, yet within our reach, is joy. Take joy.' That's the first commandment of the Stillwater religion. Joy is there for the taking."
-Tasha Tudor, from The Private World of Tasha Tudor
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