It happens every year.
About February, when we get a warm spell that you might not associate with February in Colorado (but which happens every year) I see the first signs of the rash of larkspur that brings glory to my yard in summer. Then it turns cold, we get a spring blizzard, and I tell myself not to expect too much. Probably the little green hope succumbed.
But then the snow in winter that comes from the sky gives way to the snow-in-summer plants that rise from the ground, and by mid-May I’m reveling in the white ground cover, and the purple irises trumpet out, the larkspur does indeed flourish pink, purple, and white. Yellow cone flowers I forgot I had announce their presence once again. White, yellow, and pink yarrow grows steadily, and one sunny day, it seems, the lamb’s ear decides to bloom all in the space of two hours, and then the day lilies are everywhere because once again I didn’t thin them in the fall like I said I was going to do. The Virginia creeper fills the fence and climbs the hill and generally rules the land. Be still my heart.
June is just plain gorgeous in my yard. In my humble opinion. Well into July, things look pretty terrific, though by now the snow-in-summer and irises are long gone.
All the while, I ache to just hang in my genuine Brazilian hammock, close my eyes and listen to the doves coo and the magpies chatter.
Feel the sun on my skin. Just hang there with my senses heightened.
Panic sets in about the end of July.
Because the flowers are fading and the weeds are out of hand and, most of all, I haven’t been in the hammock nearly as much as I wanted to be.
School supplies everywhere don’t help, even though I don’t have kids in school anymore.
I start thinking, “Summer is over! Where did it go? I blinked and I missed it, and now I’ll have to wait so, so long for it to come again.”
Not true.
This is August 8.
It’s true that the flowers will soon finish, but the Virginia creeper will turn to enchanting shades of red (Be still my heart again).
It’s true that the flowers will finish, but we still have a good two months of summer weather ahead.
It’s true the larkspur is gone to seed, but my goodness, the sunflowers shine all through August, and I refuse to cut down one single one! When I lament the passing of earlier blooms, I sometimes forget the sunflowers. My goodness, the sunflowers!
There is no need to give up on the hammock. The bird feeder outside my front is still a busy place. Summer isn’t over. I have time to savor the moments.
Maybe it’s not larkspur and day lilies for you. Maybe it’s something else that makes you feel that time is running out and you are not keeping up.
It’s not too late. It’s never to late to find yourself and chase joy again.
