August, even the name sounds pretty. It conjures visions of peach, dusky skies, open prairies dotted with white Queen Anne’s lace and a sort of quiet that you don’t get when things are gearing up for the summer. Everything’s here now, there’s nowhere to go. Nothing to do but watch,
and let it come. . .
Can you see it in the field wading between the branches of milkweed working its way toward the breeze who moves it slowly in and out through the fence poles and gently, in the next moment, the very next moment, right into your breath? Peace.
Can you see it in the catbird who lingers softly on the edge of the birdbath, dripping, content, not ready to leave the poolside just yet? Can you see it in the spider webs, in the circles and circles of gentle work? Can you see it on a morning when you are lucky enough to have nothing to do and you sit for no reason, unaware that you’re yearning . . . and there it comes . . . Peace.
I saw for the very first time this afternoon, as I was bargaining with the raindrops to hold off just a bit longer while my clothes dried on the line, something I had never seen - 8 or 10 herons flying side by side overhead, above my trees. Silent. Completely silent. In three more seconds, they were gone. Their long legs showing the grace of flight. I had sat myself down, for the briefest of moments while my kitty decided whether he was going in or out of the porch. And for some reason I looked up.
August has its own quiet way of whispering – and with her clever disguises, shows us peace.
My backyard is like an envelope of trees, a horseshoe of black in the evening.
The fireflies have come.
Sparks of light, one answering the other’s call. Surrounded by a curtain of black, I feel as though I’m in a magician’s pocket full of magic and tricks and the unexplained. I can almost hear the faint sound of chimes as surely, somewhere, someone is celebrating this work of art. My cat leans against my crossed legs and he’s content that I’m actually paying attention rather than wondering how I might finish a painting or get my haircut. I am completely enthralled, grateful, and he loves it.
The Universe is always calling. Perhaps there is no way it does not call – that would mean we all get to be right. To me it calls through nature; through fireflies, purrs, a falling leaf. And when I’m smart enough to pay attention, I get to remember that all is well.
I have a knack for finding secret places. Like this morning when I convinced my husband to trek out with me on my walk. There was an opening, well, a space really, where the wild roses were not so tight. An invitation.
We had to step high, like fancy horses, to avoid the prickers that reached in front and in back of our legs, “tread softly,” they seemed to say, “slow down, this is worth the effort.” Somewhere, I could hear on the other side of the brush, the pull of water. I was not disappointed. The shale was black and wide and stepped like a staircase. I don’t know who was happier, the water or the shale for making an ocean out of a 4 foot wide bend of stream that I had never seen before. And the tree roots, wider than both of your hands, form large quiet trees begging us to follow their winding and dipping curves. Sheer curiosity moved us along and suddenly, there it was . . . an old weathered rope swing. Someone, perhaps someone like you, had shimmied to the top of the tree and wedged a knot of rope in the little crook where the tree could not decide which way it wanted to grow. Or maybe the tree knew that crooks make wonderful playgrounds and planned it that way. Your guess is as good as mine.
Me first! I swung out curling my legs above the clear water. I was 12 again with my best friend in Maine where we took deep breaths before swinging wildly into the air, doing our best to hold hands, and dropping into the cool black lake, then the flapping, flapping, flapping until we reached the surface and breathed again. I swung back with a smile. Rob next; I didn’t ask where he went, but he looked 10 to me swinging over a fishing hole he never had.
I have a knack for finding secret places.
Crooks of hollow trees where messages were undoubtedly sent from one captive to another; a fairy tree where the keeper of the forest surely resides; the leaf of the nasturtium after a rain, and have you ever seen the center of a Shasta daisy – it has its very own yellow brick road. The universe waits for us in these places.
I just read a poem by Naomi Shihab Nye about a man who gave his Love two skunks for a valentine. She cried. But he had seen such beauty in the skunk’s eyes. My favorite line goes like this,
And the poems that had been hiding
in the eyes of skunks for centuries
crawled out and curled up at his feet.”
Keep your eyes open, you never know what’s in there.
The trees are in bloom and my favorite maple is throwing little whirly helicopters into the air. When the sun is behind my woods and the wind blows hard, it looks like a whirl of snow passing through in short sleeves. Each little helicopter catching the light and showing us how to fly.
The birds are choosing houses and gathering sticks and my crabapple is blanketed in pink and white blossoms that sweeten the air; the whole world is changing over, ready to believe once more in the promise of life. It’s everywhere.
Blades of grass are green with summer and reaching reaching for the sun. The bees are buzzing buzzing at the cotton candy on the trees. And you, I suspect keep looking looking outside until you can get your bare feet in the grass and your face in the sun. And so it is with May.
Dreams abound!
This little picture happened last May, but I didn’t have a Garden Diary then so I’m sharing it with you now. Something you may not know about baby bunnies…..their mama is very clever, rather than hiding her nest in the bushes where a predator might go searching, she digs it right out in the open. Right in the middle of my backyard! It is about 6 inches deep and wide and covered with her checkerboard fur; a patchwork quilt of softness, comfort and affection. I’ve already told you she is very clever, now listen to this . . . she only visits the nest a couple of times a day! - and only for a couple of minutes each time. That way, no one can watch her and discover her precious babies. She can’t go hemming and hawing about how gorgeous her new bunny-lets are and put up pink and blue signs and fancy balloons; it wouldn’t be safe. Lucky for me, I knew this. (Well, I looked on the internet and then I knew it.) So I watched silently from my deck, a good 20 feet away. Sure enough right around dusk, she hopped quietly to the nest, gently removed the fur covering, and nursed her children. When they were full and satisfied, she covered them once more and hopped back into the woods. Clever, huh?
So if you come across these little delights, don’t assume mama has abandoned them. Remember, she only visits a couple of times a day so keep a watch out for her. If you take a peek in the nest, as long as the babies look plump, they’re okay. And remember, mama’s probably watching you, so, as with all living things, be gentle and filled with love.
