Can we really Love them all…
As I sit here, in the dead of winter, feeling the chill of the of the wind through my windows, it gives me pause to wonder, do I really love them all? Although each season brings some unique benefits, not all of them make me feel charged and excited. I look at the photos above and I see the the gifts that each season offers but I need more than a donut on a fall day to carry me through the year. Let’s start with winter since it’s where we are right now.
Winter brings gifts that no other season can. Snow covered mountains outside my door in Maine. The boys walking on the frozen lake for the first time. Mother Nature at her best when she shared this show of an eagle family sharing dinner at my house and of course the ocean with it’s snow covered sea grass. Ilove the red cardinal agains the leafless tree and the angle that watches over those that have passed on in our local cemetery. All of these offerings of winter moved me in the moment that I was viewing them but then winter stretches on with it’s wind, and cold, snow and darkness. If not for Christmas I would be lost. It is my least favorite season. Let’s try Spring.
Beautiful colors, warmer days and the sounds of birds singing again. The sun is stronger and the colors of the sunset so much more vibrant. Butterflies, swan boat rides and cherry blossoms blooming. Memorial day and ponds at play, this is spring. A sign of hope for sure but as much as spring brings a lighter heart, it’s not the one that lights my spark.
Fall is when I feel closest to the earth. The natural colors of the leaves turn vibrant. The fall brings us such brightness and texture. It’s the time set aside for storing and gathering. You see it in the animals as they start to stock pile and in the smiles of little boys playing in the pumpkin patch and apple picking. It’s a vibrant time. It appears after my favorite season of the year starts to wane. For me, the seasons flow gently by but Summer is where I choose to linger and lie.
Of all the seasons we get to share, summer has always been my favorite. Look at the light, high up in the sky, warm and hazy, streaming with a glow. I have waited all through the winter and spring for this light. It’s magical. Throw up the windows, smell the air, you will know when summer is here. It a softer time, a slowing down time, it’s the time we give ourselves permission to let go and really sink into the life of compassion. Compassion for ourselves to do the things that we love most. Summer is the release of stress and the champion of rest.
It’s gardening time, a nostalgic time. The lilac’s bloom early in summer and the smell reminds me of my Mom and how much she loved these flowers. Perhaps it was because they grew wild and in abundance when I was little. She never had money to buy flowers so these lilacs became hers, the ones she could pick and save and turn into a bouquet to make the house smell like the great outdoors. Her perfume of choice. I love them now also.. My grandson riding his pony, the smile on his face as he takes his lessons each week. Being outside with his special friend, learning how to groom and care for something bigger than himself. His memory will always hold these summer days of him and the pony he calls Flicker. Ducks and swans. The ducks so funny as they quack along, the swans require a trip into Boston, an annual event. All of these events holding or making memories for years to come. All of these memories made in then sun.
The Maine house where my family has gathered for the last 25 years is what brings the greatest joy in summer. Nothing fancy, just good times with those we don’t get to see so much all year long. Boat rides, hammock time and tons and tons of reading and rocking. Mountains views, late mornings just lazing around with coffee, tea and puppies. The gentle sound of the lake beating against the rocks at night. The cry of the loons so forlorn and haunting.. A sound so unlike any other bird. Watching them glide in front of the dock so gracefully just fills me up as I run to grab my camera for that perfect shot. Maine is summer for all it provides us. There is nothing that I like better than to be with my kids and grandkids. Outdoors where the air is fresh, except for when it isn’t. Hot summer days full of humidity are my favorites. There is a quiet in the summer that you never hear any other time of year. I think of Sunday mornings here in Maine or at home…windows open, soft breeze blowing, I’m reading my book in bed, all of a sudden, I hear it, the sound of silence. No cars, no kids, no dogs barking and the smell of that early morning air as the heat hits the pavement, warm and fresh. Heat rising. Summer really does have it’s own smell…Soft, like baby powder but only in the morning. As the day heats up and the heat bugs come out to remind us that this day will be a scorcher, that soft sweet smell and that shot time of silence fades away. I try to hold onto it for as long as I can. Do you smell it also…can you hear the summer sounds?
Then there are times when we just let go, just for the fun of it. I come from Salem, Massachusetts so the Salem Willows has always been on my summer agenda actually, it’s a year round event for me but there is nothing like it is in the summer. It was one of my playgrounds as a kid growing up and now we take the boys there. It’s tacky and expensive but you set that aside because it sits at the base of the ocean, it has the best popcorn anywhere and everyone spends way too much money on those games and tickets to get the junkiest prizes for the most tickets won. Everyone goes home happy, but not before we get that ice cream cone. Ice cream is my summer staple and nothing spells summer like soft serve vanilla..
So there you have it. I feel so blessed to live in New England. To be able to share in the four seasons. Each one brings something unique to my life but summer is what I love. I give up any pretense of responsibility and I just go with the flow. It’s a short season so you can’t waste time. Summer gets my juices flowing and at the same time it lends itself to slowing down. More porch time to read and nap and sometimes just to watch the world go by with a nice glass of wine and the smell of a burger cooking on the grill. No other season can do that for me…So bring on spring and then lets get to summer. I am so ready.
“Summer, Winter, Spring, and Fall
Yes, I think I can love them all.
”
These photos were taken with the Fuji XT-2 and the Canon 7D Mk11 was used for all the wildlife photos and some of the Maine photos. Sometimes you have to mix it up…
