I was there for the Blue Moon. I had completed a day filled with the preciousness of Santiago. It was a day at the Children’s Museum and swinging in the park and eating noodles for lunch and blowing bubbles in the backyard; it was a day that was the best day. That night, the Full Moon rose in a clear West Texas sky and, in the most breathtaking way, closed the door on this special memory.
It was as if an old friend had followed me across Texas to Midland, making sure this near perfect day was capped off with ‘the light of the silvery moon’.
I am home again, and it is September, the transitional month. It offers an informal farewell to summer on Labor Day and slowly tiptoes into autumn, sometimes tempting us with a cool morning and a gumbo kind of evening.
All my little summer ‘friends’ have grown so big by now. The languid lizards of summer are still there, basking and eating, but they are now full grown and brave. I see them out in the open more often than hiding in bushes and behind flowerpots as they did in spring when they were little. They have managed to survive and with survival, they have gained confidence and mindfulness. The dragonflies of summer are huge. Their wingspan has grown significantly, and I feel confident they have eaten hundreds of mosquitos, perhaps thousands, and for that, I am so grateful. The June bugs are long gone, and the tiny hummingbirds are here for a little bit of time. I have several saucers and containers throughout my yard for the honeybees, for their water sources have been depleted. They gather each morning and hang out throughout the day; it is an amazing sight, the systematic flight patterns, and their attachment to the water. I feel happy I can, somewhat, accommodate these little creatures that work so hard and are essential to our existence. The trees are changing also. They are slowly dropping leaves and changing colors; the bloom of summer is over.
Nature is my source of strength and encouragement. Sometimes I get overwhelmed by the ‘news’ and the twisted way I see the world. When I do, I step outside, and all is suddenly right side up again. I walk into nature’s borough, into a place where everything is real, and all is as it should be. The virtual world of deceit quickly fades away and I am reminded of the important things in my life.
As wonderful as Mother Nature is, she has been known to ‘turn on us’ in September. This is the month where the likelihood of a hurricane is present; hopefully we will escape the wrath of the warm Gulf.
I end with a plea from the honeybees to set a saucer or two of fresh water outside for them and a heartfelt wish for all our farmers to have a wonderful beginning and ending to their harvest; a perfect season should happen ‘once in a Blue Moon’
Pam Shensky
Berry Tales
September 3, 2023.
Commenti