where happy silence lulls the quiet soul ...

 

"Whilst August yet wears her golden crown,

    Ripening fields lush- bright with promise;

Summer waxes long, then wanes, quietly passing

    Her fading green glory on to riotous Autumn."

-  Michelle L. Thieme, August's Crown   

 

And so, another month is almost over.  A month of unwelcome heat (for me), the ground becoming bone hard, flowers quickly going over; dragging the hosepipe up to the top of the garden to quench the thirst of the vegetables; the countryside parched; July, as you may have guessed, is not my favourite month.  Now, thankfully, it has turned a little cooler and is more bearable.

But there have been upsides.  An unexpected tea party in the garden; meeting up with a friend I haven't seen for a while; a birthday celebration meal getting together with a coterie of friends to laugh and chat and catch up on news.  My circle of friends isn't large - but I have managed to see them all in the last week.

I realised that occasionally I need these things - contact with the world beyond the garden gate.  Left to my own devices I would become reclusive and hermit-like and I do need other people to bring me out of myself, even if I groan inwardly at the prospect!

When it is hot it feels good to be by the water; watching life drifting by brings a feeling of peace and calm.

Sometimes, at home I sit outside and stare, not thinking, my mind a blank, letting go of all thoughts. Other times I sit and notice everything; two sparrows coming down to the pond to drink and bathe; a bee tumbling in and out of the nasturtiums by the door; a butterfly at rest on the kitchen windowsill.

 I leave the garden to its own devices, it has taken advantage of my neglect and laziness and turned into a flowery wilderness, it may look a mess but the bees and hoverflies are indulging themselves busily every day.  I notice them while I am picking sweet peas and harvesting beans and courgettes.  I have squash plants flinging their octopus arms hither and thither, trying to take over the world, or their little part of it - it all looks lush and productive, and I close my eyes to the weeds and disorder.

I wonder what August will bring, hopefully more time to read.  I began The History of Love by Nicole Krauss this morning - this is a passage from the first chapter:-

"Once upon a time there was a boy who lived in a house across the field from a girl who no longer exists.  They made up a thousand games.  She was Queen and he was King.  In the autumn light, her hair shone like a crown.  They collected the world in small handfuls.  When the sky grew dark they parted with leaves in their hair."

It looks promising - I think I am going to enjoy reading this book.

 

Elaine