Summer's Slow Living

Summer is officially here - as if we needed reminders. We feel the heat and humidity, along with mosquitoes and chiggers biting. We are picking the fresh produce from the gardens and gathering flowers for the table and watching fireflies in the evening darkness.

Yes, it is summer, a time when the living is supposed to be easy - a time for families going on vacation, kids out of school, and groups taking time out until fall to meet again.
There is something to be said about "slow living" in the summer. We tend to move at a slower pace. Food is cooked outside on the grill now and the oven doesn't run as much. The emphasis is on cold food like melon, sandwiches, tomatoes and salads instead of the winter fare of hot soups and heavy casseroles. Many will argue we work just as hard in the summer, and for many that is true. Hopefully, weekends are for "slow living" when families come together and make memories.

"Slow living" is definitely something I do, and I don't feel guilty on a hot and humid day when I stay inside with the coolness of the air conditioner and pick up a book to read or find a project to do. With my list of chores done for the day it is time to "play" with slow living - it is part of enjoying the fullness of the season at hand.

My enjoyment of the season includes drying herbs, and my table and counters are full of herbs drying. The house smells quite "herby," which is delightful. My garden tea is made, and I enjoy a hot cup each morning to get the day started - it is a morning ritual (now available in the shop - has lavender and elderflower in it - yummy!). And with lunch I enjoy the fresh lemon balm/spearmint infusion (tea) over ice – this is my beverage of choice the rest of the day and evening. The garden has been flourishing and supplying lettuce, onion, garlic, chard and green beans as regulars on my plate. Now the tomatoes, cucumbers and zucchini are ready to give of their bounty, as well as the blackberries turning color and elderberries setting on. I am humbled by what I am able to grow myself organically with the rewards of knowing where it came from. I hope to do so as long as I possibly can.

I am reminded of Mary Oliver's poem, "The Summer Day.” Her writings resonate with me. I hope you can enjoy "slow living" this summer, and find purpose in the season from whatever you choose to do. 
Twila

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The Summer Day
Who made the world?
Who made the swan, and the black bear?
Who made the grasshopper?
This grasshopper, I mean-
the one who has flung herself out of the grass,
the one who is eating sugar out of my hand,
who is moving her jaws back and forth instead of up and down-
who is gazing around with her enormous and complicated eyes.
Now she lifts her pale forearms and thoroughly washes her face.
Now she snaps her wings open, and floats away.
I don't know exactly what a prayer is.
I do know how to pay attention, how to fall down
into the grass, how to kneel down in the grass,
how to be idle and blessed, how to stroll through the fields,
which is what I have been doing all day.
Tell me, what else should I have done?
Doesn't everything die at last, and too soon?
Tell me, what is it you plan to do
with your one wild and precious life?
—Mary Oliver