The Passing of Summer

Autumn has pushed Summer rather rudely to one side. The light in the sky has altered and there is a change in the air. The animals sense it too and spend each day searching for the last snippets of the tastiest morsels. ~

Now is the time to gather in the last of the summer goodness, to preserve it for the dark, short days of the coming seasons. There is a slight urgency in this, as day by day there is a kind of beautiful decay setting in. I feel the need to be watchful, for what I’m not quite sure, but the need is there. Maybe it’s the way the old peasants felt when they knew the bountiful summer was about to leave them. Leave them to fend for themselves, with the earth hardening and cooling, no longer the hospitable place for seeds and plants to thrive.

~ Of course there is no real urgency nowadays to rely on oneself for survival. A trip to the supermarket brings the world to your fingertips (and your kitchen), but where is the satisfaction in that after the bountiful harvests and good eating of the summer. Where is the joy of strolling the garden or perusing the pots to plan the next meal.

~ More and more we, the people are taking control of our own food supplies. Learning once again to rely on our own resources. Feeding ourselves and our families from the earth around our homes. Be it acres of land, gardens or yards or simply pots and tubs, we now know the pleasure of the simple task of sprinkling the seeds into the rich brown soil and reaping the rewards of the freshest of fresh, tastiest of tasty produce.

~ We will lament the passing of this summer. It has brought with it a magic, a re-discovering of the joys of simple living. Now we face the challenge of trying to elongate the shortening days, to make the most of the time we have left with the big glowing orb in the sky. The last of the plants will be nurtured and cared for to eek out their productivity, and we shall pander to their slowing development and rush to protect them from any sneaky frosts.

~ Now we look to the wild plants to provide us with the bounty that will be ours in autumn, the berries on the brambles, the rosehips and damsons on the trees, the falling apples that signify a going to sleep of the big old apple tree, shedding its leaves for the winter ahead. Curling back into itself to rest for the next coming of spring. Like it, we will take comfort in our homes, retiring early to our cosy rooms and pull out eiderdowns of the softest warmest down, fill our rooms with twinkling lights and draw back into the warmth that is home and family.

~ There is no need to worry, the next season holds magic too! We need not lament too long the passing of summer, we have other different things to look forward to.....

~

Sue xx