When summer bursts with cheerful color – yellow suns against a blue sky – the heart beats with palpable joy, no matter what might be going on inside. Well, that’s not always true – some summers do inherently suck, and all the beauty and color in the world can’t change that. This summer wasn’t entirely sucky, so I’m offering gratitude for the days of sun and prettiness, remembering that savoring and appreciating things is an integral part of realizing happiness. When you let the heart lean into that, it can be a reserve to help see you through winter.
Despite a horrendous attack by aphids that covered the growing stalks of the cup plant earlier in the season, these blooms still managed to appear, and at the time of this writing they sail gloriously high above the garden, lighting it up, especially when the sun hits them. The bees and hummingbirds and goldfinches have been having a proper field day with the blooms, though I sadly haven’t spied any butterflies at all this year. The world feels in danger, so I embrace the birds and the bees that remain.
This is summer living, and it is grand.
