Gardening is cheaper than therapy and you get tomatoes. ~Author Unknown

I think I have found the supreme reason for summer. It lies in the flowers... whose only true and  passionate love is the summer heat.

They teach me to feel summer in a different way. To embrace its intensity and find what the heat and I can accomplish together.

So I'm allowing my mind, and the camera, to capture all the reasons that I must accept this season of fire and passion... and its amazing plant energy.
William Carlos Williams said "In summer, the song sings itself.", so I listen...
A hummingbird flies above me as if to ask if I have anything to offer... and then moves to the autumn sage which gives this small bird what it desires.

The butterfly bush attacks my senses with a heady fragrance and bees buzz around me as they check the clusters of each lavender wands.

This is Buddleja Davidii, the summer lilac...the butterfly bush. The hummingbirds and the "bumbles" find this bush irresistible, but no butterflies do I see.

Even Carl is at one with his summer environment. The "little man" dog who always needs control of everything is in total bliss. I listen to his panting... which helps him deal with the hot air. I watch him as he listens, anticipates, watches and feels the summer until it becomes his whole doggie being.
 "The greatest gift of the garden is the restoration of the five senses."~Hanna Rion~.
He is soaking up the resources of summer as if he were praying. He is in total acceptance of what IS.
I need to practice this technique.

I think that the Hollyhock understands this. She is jubilant in her bright pink tutu. Like a young child dressed for a dance recital, she is at her very best in this heat. She sparkles in her self esteem.

Why haven't I seen this before. These flowers are in their element. THEY ARE SUMMER.

As I walk down to the garden I hear a scream, an animal scream , and the birds fly up all in one movement. Carl returns to reality and barks with Cutter at the screeching sound that cuts into the summer silence. What could this be? A bird? An animal? There is no answer. Just silence after the scream.
"Oh, for the time when I shall sleep without identity."
~Emily Bronte~
 I want to understand what happen. I guess it's not mine to know. It will remain an unidentified death.
 The birds are talking about it. Slowly they start their conversations.
 The deer are silent. Even the air is still.
Something left this world.
 I hope it was a death with purpose.

 
I walk on down to the garden.
First checking the dirt, then the leaves of the vegetables.  Do they need water? No.
Do they need to be protected from the afternoon heat. Probably not. It will not be over 90 degrees today.
They will be OK for one more day.
The pumpkins are taking over the south end of the garden. Soon Brownie, our goat, will be able to reach the leaves through the fence.

We will have a bumper crop of pumpkins this year. Only in this heat do they grow inches each day. Only in this heat do they flower and grow into a mass of yellow orbs that means pie and jack-o-lanterns for Fall.
Without Summer, Halloween and Thanksgiving would loose their color and taste... and creepy cutout faces.
SUMMER HAS TO BE.

The tomatoes must ripen...

There are sun worshipers.  I understand this.
 "Plants cry their gratitude for the sun in green joy."~Terri Guillemets~

The little Italian heirloom, pear tomatoes need heat too.

They need to grow and become what they were created for... Tomato sauce.

It's all there before my eyes. I need summer. I will suffer the heat because others need it. A simple revelation.
I didn't have to see a therapist to understand this. I simply put my dislike on hold, listened to my garden and understood.
We have to accept the possibility of fire, rattlesnakes,  hearing screams of death from the wilderness around us and the limitation of our water supply. I must accept this because I know that if I choose to live somewhere else and I leave this mountain place, my life will be the less for it.  Summer is what it is... a season of knowing danger, being aware of my fears and listening to the conversations of the plants and flowers. 
I'm trying to understand and embrace Summer.
I know that this is about attitude, a new point of view, and acceptance.
What does Summer mean to you?

“The sun shines not on us but in us.” ~John Muir~

Wordless Wednesday: The Goat Boys

Walking With Annibel

There is a beautiful color in the sky just before the sun goes down.

 It's  pinkish and a bit of yellow with tinges of pale blue.  The hills to the east reflect the last rays of the sun going down into the Pacific Ocean to the West, many miles away from our foothill home.
I don't see sunsets anymore. We chose to build a house on the east side of the mountain because this is a hot climate and the sun clings painfully to the dry hills in the summer. Also our best view is to the southeast .
The wildflowers dry up and turn brown in the heat of mid summer.

They have their own beauty as the flowers fade and the stems lose their green.
Last night we were ending a long hot day and, as the evening came to a quiet close, I decided to take a  quick walk up to the orchard and back before it got dark.  It's all uphill in that direction and good exercise for my pathetic feet. My heart is fine but my feet are failing me. I think there was some retched foot DNA that was passed along to me by some distant relative. So, I keep walking because life is short and I don't want to end up sitting in a chair for the rest of my life.
Annibel, our cat, reluctantly followed me.

Last night, when it was time for her to go into the garage, she was nowhere to be seen.  We guessed that she, because of the warm weather, decided to go hunting and stalk the wild things all night. We never know for sure because if she stays out all night we just leave the small garage door open for her. Then she can come in to the garage for safety in case the "wild things" decide to stalk her instead of the other way around.
So maybe she was miffed because we let her fend for herself. She seemed a bit upset. Oh well Annie...If the paw fits...

She was being very distant and basically ignored me. She usually walks with me and then runs ahead of me until I catch up with her. But last night I would stop, look back and call her... then she would just saunter slowly up the road toward me.
Cats are so different that Dogs. All I have to say is "Walk?" and stand still in front of Carl or Cutter. Then they start running around the house whining and acting like I just said "Biscuit?" or "Kitty cat?". They go crazy. They love their walk and can't wait to get their leashes on.
But, Annibel is a CAT. She waits. She weighs the situation.... " Do I want to go with Farmlady or do I want to just sit here and look at her?" She, as the joke goes, will get back to me.
So, it appeared that she was still trying to decide whether to walk with me or stay around the homestead. 

Finally she caught up with me and we headed for the orchard.
We don't really have an orchard anymore. When we first moved here we fenced an area so we could plant some fruit trees and grow some berries. We chose a place between the well and the septic leach mound. We piped and did a hose system for watering, cleared the land and planted the trees. The only thing we didn't think about was how far away from the house it was and as the years went by, we realized that water was a BIG issue and with our garden near the house and the animals we kept accumulating, our water was not going as far as our big ideas. So, after 15 years we have basically let the orchard go. A Pear tree struggles, and the two olives trees survive without any water during the summer.

The rest is gone, but  it's OK. It's one less thing to have to take care of. We have two persimmon trees in the veggie garden below the house and that's enough until we drill another well and have more water.
I walked up past the orchard and looked for any signs of wildlife. I knew that they were there hiding from me. But they were not to be seen. The deer, the fox and all the smaller creatures of the area were waiting for the human and her spoiled calico cat to leave so they could start their nightlife. 
Annibel kept looking up the hill...

Then, as if she had surmised that there were no threats to her catness, she started being frisky. She ran toward me and stopped.

Flipped around and ran back through my legs...

Turned around and ran back between my legs again.

Then she rolled over on the ground and wanted to play. It was like she has lost her "tude" completely.
Now she just wanted to have fun. She rolled and stretched.... and when I reached down to rub her belly, she pawed at me and wanted to nip at me. The attitude was gone. All of a sudden she was the playful kitten again and was just being downright silly. She went from Garfield to The Cat in the Hat  within seconds. We had a few moments of playtime and then she sobered up.
We started back down to the house and at some point I realized that Annie, again, wasn't with me. Then I saw her.

She was sitting near the well, looking up at the ridge above us. I walked back up to her. "Annie, what are you looking at?" She didn't move. She was watching something.
You know how a cat lifts and lowers their body, slowly, crouching a little, trying to see something?
She had seen something. I looked up on the ridge.
About half way up the hill a fox was sitting there watching us.
This is what I live for.
I looked down at Annie.

When I looked again...  the fox was gone.

I picked Annie up and carried her for a few feet. Then I put her down and she followed me. She even ran ahead of me.

Then she laid down and waited for me. When I got to her she ran ahead and laid down again... and waited.
 This was what we usually did together on our walks. I knew now that she had sensed something way before I knew anything was there. She was acting differently because she was being cautious.... and now she knew what it was, so she was taking me home.
By the time we got back to the house it was getting dark. I opened the gate and went though to the back door of the garage. Annie followed me and went in. I gave her a couple of cat treats and closed the door... " 'night Annie."  She was already heading for her bed. Tonight she would sleep safely.
I wondered what the fox thought about the cat and what the cat was thinking as she watched the fox. At sometime in the past their ancestors were living together, surviving in a hostile environment. The Wilderness is still out there. Annie is not a part of it because she is "our cat"... or is she.
I turned the light out and closed the door, walking over to the back porch. As I started up the stairs, I heard one of the goats say something to me... just a small sound. I looked over at the goat house and said..."Goodnight boys." and again I heard the quite, soft "maaaa".
I"m sure the fox came and drank water out of the bucket across the driveway later on and then checked to see if he could get into the chicken house. I'm sure that is what he does at night.
I walked into the house. Carl and Cutter greeted me like I had been gone for days.
The Prospector asked if I put Annie in the garage. I said "Yes, she's safe tonight."
I LOVE THIS PLACE.

I only went out for a walk and finally concluded to stay out till sundown, for going out, I found, was really going in.  ~John Muir, 1913