Summer Reverie!
"That beautiful season the Summer!
Filled was the air with a dreamy and magical light;
and the landscape
Lay as if new created in all the freshness of childhood."
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
by Evelyn C. Rysdyk
Co-Editor
In my child Self, the wonders of Summer are woven with the colors and textures of the Natural world. I can remember walking home from school on the last day of early grade school years and excitedly thinking "I have the WHOLE Summer off!" Back then, Summer was several months of unstructured time that could be filled with exploring the little empty lot next to my house, examining the tumbled river stones that lined my driveway, and looking at the cloud shapes that filled the sky. On special days, we went to the beach or spent time on Long Island's Great South Bay or on Fire Island. There, I would spend hours swimming, playing in the sand and beach combing.
Waves
At the ocean's edge, the long, unbroken horizon was--and still is--a stimulant to my imagination. There, my inner dreamer is set free to reach for greater heights. Perhaps its the negative ions of the surf or the physical expansiveness that opens my mind to fresh thinking and wonder. Whatever the case, an ocean and it's beaches are something magical for me. To this day, nothing matches the joy of making footprints across a stretch of sea-worn sand on a breezy Summer afternoon!
Right now, I am turning a piece of smooth clamshell in my hand. Its a treasure that I picked up years ago on one such beach. Over time, the ever-industrious ocean polished off its broken edges so that when I stopped to pick it up, it became a lovely token of a luscious day. On face value, the object is worthless--a cast away fragment of a long gone mollusk's house. However, in my hand it recalls a deep breath of sea air, the coolness of wet sand on hot feet and searching the foggy horizon for distant boat sails. In my very busy adult-world, I've learned to keep this magic talisman secreted in my pocket. Its amazing how much lighter a work day problem feels with that clamshell between my fingers and thumb!
"Nobody sees a flower really; it is so small. We haven't time, and to see takes time - like to have a friend takes time."
- Georgia O'Keeffe
This month, take a break from adulthood and spend a few hours engaged with Nature. Let yourself do it with the emotional abandon of a Summer-drunk child and for heaven's sake, don't wait for your "vacation!" It doesn't matter where you live--the natural world is right there waiting for you. Examine the endless industry of an ant hill. Skip stones on a pond. Take up the challenge of making a blade of grass into a whistle. Craft a little raft with twigs and float it on a puddle. Sit with your back against a tree and look at the shapes formed by clouds. And by all means, if you do have a handy beach, go off hunting for the "perfect" rock or shell.
This particular Summer day will never come again. However you decide to spend it--hold it close to your heart and take time to really get to know its pleasure. That can help it stay with you for a lifetime.
~ Evelyn
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