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Posts tagged ‘Summer’

May 20

Summertime Prelude

“Damn it all, you have been given a life on this beautiful planet! Get off your ass and do something!”― Nick Offerman, Paddle Your Own Canoe: One Man’s Fundamentals for Delicious Living

“Summertime, oh, summertime, pattern of life indelible, the fade-proof lake, the woods unshatterable, the pasture with the sweetfern and the juniper forever and ever . . . the cottages with their innocent and tranquil design, their tiny docks with the flagpole and the American flag floating against the white clouds in the blue sky, the little paths over the roots of the trees leading from camp to camp. This was the American family at play, escaping the city heat.”― E.B. White

Cool mornings melting into warm days.
Light earlier and later.
Spring preparing for summer’s turn.
Months to slow, partake and savor.
Pump the brakes.
A rhythm of grace and gratitude.
Color, fragrance, soul time.
Drop anchor and float.

“Our world continues on, faster and busier, and we are reminded that our souls were not created for the kind of speed to which we have grown accustomed. Thus, we are a people who are out of rhythm, a people with too much to do and not enough time to do it.”― Rich Villodas, The Deeply Formed Life

Apr 14

Winter to Summer, Back to Spring

“The bird dares to break the shell, then the shell breaks open and the bird can fly openly. This is the simplest principle of success. You dream, you dare and and you fly.”― Israelmore Ayivor

“She decided to free herself, dance into the wind, create a new language. And birds fluttered around her, writing “yes” in the sky.”― Monique Duval

We’ve gone from 7+ feet of snow two weeks ago to 5 days of 80+ degrees.
Robins and red-winged blackbirds proclaim spring’s return, this week a slice of July.
Deep snow lingers still.
Temps dropping to 50s and rain tomorrow.
Snow on Sunday.
Back to spring 50s next week.
Seasons colliding, merging, dancing.
Polka. Waltz. Salsa.
Winter to summer and back again to spring.
Patterns of nature.
Up, down, all around.
Life on display.
Become part of the silence, the flow.
Your answer to what is right now, a resounding “Yes!”
Dream. Dare. Fly.

“In order to see birds it is necessary to become a part of the silence.”― Robert Lynd

Aug 22

Split the Sky

“The sky is love’s muse.” – Walter Mercado

“The soul can split the sky in two and let the face of God shine through.” – Edna St. Vincent Millay

As summer lingers a bit longer, join her.
Soak in the sun.
Allow awe.
Invite wonder.
Witness beauty.
Look up.
The wisp of clouds painting the sky.
Love’s muse.

“Go forth under the open sky, and list To Nature’s teachings.” – William Cullen Bryant

Jul 1

1 Comment

Sky Song

“Even
After
All this time
The Sun never says to the Earth,
“You owe me.”
Look
What happens
With a love like that,
It lights the whole sky.”
― Hafiz

A canvas
A possibility
An opening
An invitation

To bigness
To expanse
To dance
To delight

Composition
Rhythm
The poetry of a summer’s day coming to a close.
Lighting up more than the sky.

Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day? (Sonnet 18)
by William Shakespeare

“Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?
Thou art more lovely and more temperate.
Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May,
And summer’s lease hath all too short a date.
Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines,
And often is his gold complexion dimmed;
And every fair from fair sometime declines,
By chance, or nature’s changing course, untrimmed;
But thy eternal summer shall not fade,
Nor lose possession of that fair thou ow’st,
Nor shall death brag thou wand’rest in his shade,
When in eternal lines to Time thou grow’st

So long as men can breathe, or eyes can see,
So long lives this, and this gives life to thee.”

Jun 13

Dayspring

“The world is charged with the grandeur of God.”― Gerard Manley Hopkins

“Let Him easter in us, be a dayspring to the dimness of us, be a crimson-cresseted east.”― Gerard Manley Hopkins

Enter the grandeur of summer, of life beyond seasons and circumstance.
A well, a river, a current.
Surrounded and overtaken by color, light and fragrance.
Silent in awe and wonder, steeped in praise.
A dayspring, a pasture, wide-open spaces of blessings abound.

“ELECTED Silence, sing to me
And beat upon my whorlèd ear,
Pipe me to pastures still and be
The music that I care to hear.”
― Gerard Manley Hopkins, Poems and Prose

Jun 10

Wisp

“Faith requires following the power of a whisper.”― Shannon L. Alder

“That’s the great, enduring challenge of our modern times, is it not, to marry faith and reason? So hard–so unreasonable–to root our lives upon a distant wisp of holiness. Faith is grand but impractical: How does one live an eternal idea in a daily way? It’s so much easier to be reasonable. Reason is practical, its rewards are immediate, its workings are clear. But alas, reason is blind. Reason, on its own, leads us nowhere, especially in the face of adversity. How do we balance the two, how do we live with both faith and reason?” — Yann Martel

May the wisp of a flower
The brilliant blue of the sky
The air fresh, a soft breeze
Summer’s invitation to repose and play
May it all touch, hold and release your being
Into joy, delight and ease
Depth, meaning, beauty abound, ready for harvest

“Tradition whispers that in the sky is a bird, blue as the sky itself, which brings to its finders happiness. But everyone cannot see it; for mortal eyes are prone to be blinded by the glitter of wealth, fame, and position, and deceived by the mocking Will-o-Wisp of empty honors. But for the fortunate ones who seek with open eyes and hearts, with the artlessness, simplicity, and faith which are richest in childhood, there is an undying promise; and to them the Blue Bird lives and carols, a rejoicing symbol of Happiness and Contentment unto the end.” — Venice J. Bloodworth

Jun 3

Long Summer Days

“Aaah, summer – that long anticipated stretch of lazy, lingering days, free of responsibility and rife with possibility. It’s a time to hunt for insects, master handstands, practice swimming strokes, conquer trees, explore nooks and crannies, and make new friends.” – Darell Hammond

“Summer afternoon, summer afternoon; to me those have always been the two most beautiful words in the English language.” – Henry James

Vibrant colors, sun lingering, soft breeze.
Days when glory shows its face in bloom.
Play, wander, watch.
Somersaults and cartwheels.
Crisp vegetables, sweet fruit.
Soak in these days.
No place to be but here.
In the balm of long summer days.
Do not let them pass you by.

“We might think we are nurturing our garden, but of course it’s our garden that is really nurturing us.” – Jenny Uglow

“In summer, the song sings itself.” – William Carlos Williams

Jun 1

June

flower

“In June as many as a dozen species may burst their buds on a single day. No man can heed all of these anniversaries; no man can ignore all of them.” – Aldo Leopold

“Spring being a tough act to follow, God created June.” – Al Bernstein

Pause.
Pull over.
Rest awhile.
The beginning of summer.
The season that never goes slow.
So we must slow to steep in it like a tea bag.
Soaking up flavor and essence.
Look around, walk slowly, breathe deeply.
June, the beginning of summer glory.
Be present and awake for all of it.
Overwhelmed by color, held by the sun, in praise of earth coming alive.
Inviting us to do the same.

“What is one to say about June, the time of perfect young summer, the fulfillment of the promise of the earlier months, and with as yet no sign to remind one that its fresh young beauty will ever fade.” – Gertrude Jekyll

May 12

Storms

“There is peace even in the storm.”― Vincent van Gogh

“There are some things you learn best in calm, and some in storm.” – Willa Cather

The first spring storm swept in last night.
Thick clouds, lightning breaking through.
70 mile an hour winds.
Horizontal rain.
Hail.
Sirens to warn.
Nature has her way, untouched by our control or consternation.
Nothing to do but take shelter.
Observing, waiting, watching.
In both the external and internal storms, taking shelter is often the only thing to do.
Present to what is.
Laying down worry.
Evidence from the past that we’ve made it through before.
No guarantees but hopeful the same.
Calm this morning.
Greener grass, budding trees.
May you weather the storms, new on the other side.

“When you come out of the storm, you won’t be the same person who walked in. That’s what this storm’s all about.”― Haruki Murakami, Kafka on the Shore

Aug 31

Reverence Time

“By all these lovely tokens September days are here, With summer’s best of weather And autumn’s best of cheer.” – Helen Hunt Jackson

“Autumn is a second spring when every leaf is a flower.”― Albert Camus

As summer completes her third act and fall prepares to enter center stage, be open to seek and see the gifts woven in each season, in transition, in endings and in beginnings. Each day is a gift, open and enjoy the moments you are in.

Gratitude harvests beauty in each season.

“Spring passes and one remembers one’s innocence.
Summer passes and one remembers one’s exuberance.
Autumn passes and one remembers one’s reverence.
Winter passes and one remembers one’s perseverance.”― Yoko Ono

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