Emily Dickinson once wrote, “She sweeps with many colored
brooms…” Of course, I think she is referring to the beauty of October, but on
this lovely day in August, it could be our late summer gardens. Everything is bursting with color and with
flavor as I look around my garden this morning. The morning glories are
literally dancing in the sunlight, the sunflowers are almost ready to bloom,
tomatoes are ripening fast, and my pumpkin patch is now spilling over the gate
and into the yard.
Let’s take a look at
August, our 8th month. August is named after the first Roman
Emporer, Augustus Caesar. We simply think of the “dog days” of summer,
vacations, lazy afternoons reading in the shade of the old oak tree. One of the
first celebrations (although already past) is Lammas Day on August 1st which marked the
annual wheat and corn harvest in Britain. In days of yore, folks celebrated early harvesting which brought
about much singing and dancing. It is also the cross-quarter day between summer
and autumn. Watermelon Day along with National Aviation Day and ending the
month with Women’s Equality Day which
celebrates the19th Amendment of our Constitution, are also celebrated in
August.
The birthstone of August is peridot; the flowers of August include gladiolus and poppies. August also
brings about the Perseid Showers. I love sitting (or lying out on sleeping
bags) outside to watch the show. One year I sent out an invitation to anyone
who wanted to join me. Please arrive at 1:00 a.m. to share in the beauty, I
said. Of course, as I made coffee at
12:30, I was wondering if anyone would show up. But they did. Hope and Tom
Wilson came with cots to watch the beautiful show that night. I remember Hope
reciting one of my favorite poems, Summons, by Robert Francis, “ Keep me
from going to sleep too soon, or if I do go to sleep too soon, come wake me up.
Come any hour of night…” It was a very magical moment.
My twins were born in August, and when we lived on the farm,
to celebrate their birthday, we took the blankets outside with a thermos of hot
chocolate to watch the Perseid showers. Sometimes we were so amazed as the
meteors whizzed across the sky. Other times, we didn’t have such luck and
finally gave in and went to bed. I always told them to pick a star for their
birthday. I still remind them to choose a star on their birthday.
Once upon a time, August was for vacations. Finally baseball
and 4-H were over so we packed our old van and headed up to Michigan to camp or
to stay in tiny little cabins on Lake Superior. I loved those lazy vacations. I
always packed a bag of books and settled
in for the day to read as the boys all went fishing. Such lovely memories of
August.
Usually the heat is high in August; although this week is
different with the lovely temperatures. In August we trudge back out to the
garden to pull weeks, pick bouquets or decide what is for dinner. I planted a
lot of vegetables in my garden, but last year’s pumpkin seeds have completely
taken over. The vines are sprawling over the fence onto the yard and the nearby
tree. Somewhere, inside those vines, are those seed I lovingly planted. I guess
I will see if anything happened under those vines after the frost. There is
still time to plant a fall garden too. I just planted spinach and lettuce
(really nice to have my own lettuce these days!)
August is a slow down month. Time to dawdle in the garden
without that spring planting rush. What is going to be, is simply going to be.
I am grateful each day for anything that finds a home in my garden. August is
supposed to be hot and lazy…drift down the river in a kayak or spend the
afternoon reading on your front porch with a glass of iced tea and a sprig of
mint from the garden, of course.
August is here, and I want to enjoy each moment. Autumn is
close behind, and even though she is my favorite season, I want to push her
back. “Not yet,” I whisper to her as the temps fall into the 50’s…no, not yet.
Watermelon, sun-ripened tomatoes, lazy afternoons, sparkling
drops of dew are all part of August. Let’s enjoy beautiful August.
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