Sunday, July 22, 2012

Adrift In the Great Round of Time

Yesterday was adrift in butterflies, particularly Monarchs and Viceroys, but it was far too hot in the Lanark Highlands to countenance doing very much at all except curling up in the shade of the big trees for a while and watching our winged kindred fluttering about. By mid morning, the temperature was blazing, and the experience was akin to wandering in a Brazilian rainforest.

Evening was a trifle cooler but (sigh) only by a few degrees. At nightfall, I pottered around outside with my tea for an hour or so and watched bats circling above the garden behind the little blue house in the village. The cicadas were certainly in fine form - the air was filled with their courting songs. What I really wanted was to see the moon, but heavy clouds hid her presence, and back into the cool house we went, thinking to try again this evening.

There is pause for thought this morning on noting that the sand cherry in our hedgerow has an abundance of lovely berries although there has been scant rain this summer, and a neighbor's globe thistles are beautiful in their bristling bright blue armor and draped in bumbles glistening like jewels in the early light. How many years have I been watching this selfsame cherry and my neighbor's thistles bloom?

The neighbor's house has now been sold, and it is vacant and forlorn - rumor has it that the dear old brick structure will be demolished and replaced by fancy modern lodgings in the next month or two. Something in me is longing to liberate the residents in the abandoned garden that they do not go gentle into the summer night - a friend and I are considering doing such a thing when she returns from a trip to the maritime provinces. After all its generous summer giftings, how can we sit back and allow the lovely old garden to be bulldozed under like rubbish?

I am by no means hastening toward the next turning of the seasons, but am already thinking longingly about autumn and its cooler days. This crone's brain seems to slow down considerably in the heat - some of the slowing is indubitably "an aging thing", but most of the present lethargy is related to the heat.

5 comments:

Lynn said...

To wish away a day is bad enough. To wish away a season is appalling. Each season brings it’s special joy. Summertime is lazy time. For simple fresh meals, napping, letting the temperature dictate how much physical activity your body wants to take on. Truly a time to watch the butterflies from the porch with a glass of iced tea. Still I also wonder if Fall will bring renewed energy or if this is a permanent lethargy of years.

Guy said...

Hi Cate

How are your roses doing has the heat put an end to them mine are finally in their summer glory although some are just starting to bud. Each season does have it's glory. We did get some plants from the garden next door when our neighbours of 17 years moved to the home, with the children's permission. All the best.

Guy

Mystic Meandering said...

I too languish in the heat, and we, like you, are having the hottest summer on record. Temp yesterday well over 100, today possibly the same. It is not only my brain that churns to a halt in the heat, but the body as well - like a sensitive bloom wilting... How can one not help but look forward to cooler days that feed the soul! I too long for cooler weather - and RAIN - if we will ever get any... Tis' only natural it seems to want weather we can thrive in... And yet, you are able to find every blossom of Life that stands as testament to the thriving of Nature. :) For which I am grateful...

Still thinking said...

We have had a very cold and wet winter here, though probably mild by your terms :).

I am a little different in that my crone body and mind function better in the heat. The cold permeates these older bones and nerves and everything aches.

It is so nice to listen you again, see these lovely pictures and share experiences. Thank you, Cate.

Dedri said...

Liberate the garden!!! Go for it!!! I have done the same thing myself with never a regret. It will enliven your crone soul. Wish I were there to help.