August Time

 It's August?

Say what?

How on Earth did that happen? 

Well, Summer...
Can I talk to your supervisor please?
Like the Season Manager?  Or, the Calendar?
Yeah, let me talk to the them.

  Because this is seriously messed up.

The other seasons get so much more of the calendar.
What is up with that?

August
!!!!
???????  
It didn't really hit me
until today when my friend razzed me
about it being August
and not having written a blog post yet.

-------

Oh my.
It really is August, isn't it?

Silly me.
I had been pretending all along that time was standing still,
which is basically how I live in July.

Meanwhile...

Summer is flying by faster than ever
and it could break my heart right open if I let it.


-----------

Despite my best denial mechanisms,
there are signs all around me
that summer is chugging along at a rapid pace
not listening at all to my protestations.

Sigh.

The goldenrod is in bloom.
Loosestrife, too.

 The anemones are budding up and getting ready for their show.

Brown-eyed Susans abound.



Blueberries are at the market.

Yep.
All beautiful in their own right,
but definitely indicators that summer
is going to be over before we know it.

But.

Let's take a deep breath, shall we? 

Instead of being in
Oh-No-It's-Almost-Over Mode
I'm going to really live into my
Yippee!  It's STILL SUMMER! attitude
right on up until Labor Day.

(Actually, I am such a stalwart of summer
and so good at ignoring the realities around me if I don't like them,
that anyone who knows me also knows
that I am fairly adept at continuing to pretend "the end of summer"
isn't happening
 well on into September, even after school resumes.
In fact, it's usually October before I give up...!)


---------


Yes, summer is ever so fleeting.
But that makes it all the more golden, doesn't it?

 Maybe one day we'll get to live
in an infinite summer,
or at least an infinite stream of deliciousness of some sort.

Don't think about how fleeting it is.

Just roll around in it.
 And eat it.
  Drink it up.

---------------------


So, that begs the question...
What to do with this precious August time?

How about as little as possible for a change?!
  Right?
 Right.

Let's do it.


The very little.
The almost nothing.
And by almost nothing I mean
very few chores, projects, and things that tie up time
or take you away from what you would rather be doing,
Do lots and lots of what you would rather be doing.

As much as you can!
Just do what makes you feel free,
what makes you feel happy
and satisfied. 


Basically, for me, I give myself permission
to reverse the chores to fun ratio.


So, let the business of living
be what you want to do,
not what you think "has" to be done.

Very few things actually "have" to be done.

 But if you're the type of person who needs things to be "just so,"
(myself included)
try to do just the necessary maintenance to keep things okay. 
Let things go, just for August.

August only comes around once a year, after all.


And if you really need to do those chores for your psyche,
do them with renewed pleasure
because the results they bring you must be
as important as a gorgeous, perfect August day.

---------------------


Ahhhhhhhh.
All of these whole wonderful days! 

I feel better already.

----------

"August time" is a  a way of being, really.
A way of seeing.

August time is dream time.
It's life as if it was a dream,
and it's the stuff I dream about all the rest of the year long.

In August time,

life feels slow and languid
 even though the clock is ticking
 (ssshhh, forget about that!)

Focus not on the dwindling,
but on the golden nature of these days.

----------

This is how I do August time:  

For starters, I believe that August is
the absolute juiciest month of the summer,
and it is not to be squandered with things
that you could do any other month of the year.

(To squander August would be absolute sacrilege!)

I no longer care if the gardens get weeded or 

about the chipping paint
or the million other projects that could be done,
that I would like to get done...

Because when I see
that the golden elixir of summer has an expiration date,
I get down to the business of just reveling in it. 

To relish something with the knowledge it's coming to an end...
that seems to be a lesson I learn repeatedly in my life,
whether it's with loved ones or the seasons.

Even if I didn't get to do
and cannot possibly do
some of the things I had wanted to do this summer.

Even if I barely left the gardens
or did anything that interesting
that I could tell people
when they ask me how my summer was.

Even if no matter what,
life is still always work,
and there are chores that simply can't be avoided.

For me,
August is caring about other things more,
and making as much room for that as much as possible.

Not "What can I get done?"  

More like,
"What can I experience?"

Caring about the quality of the breeze, and the angle of sunlight
and how it makes me feel.

I love putting on my August-colored glasses.

And I'm grateful to my friend for the wake-up call today.

 Now, I can just see the beauty of the garden

and overlook the weeds!

August is really about whatever floats your boat.
It's about dropping everything to lie in the sun.

Doing a spontaneous ice cream run at night.
Having a picnic for two out in our yard. 

 It's about 
the luxuriating.
the chaise lounging.
the hammocking.
 the garden strolling.
the dancing in the kitchen.
 the yawning and stretching because you fell asleep with a book
over your face in the sun.

August is being a little decadent, and a little lazy.
For me it's even eating a slice of blueberry pie for breakfast with my hands

before I put on my garden boots.

MMmmmmmmnnn!

August is honeybees stumbling off of flowers,
so laden with pollen that they fall and stumble a bit,
having to readjust to the new weight of their golden treasure.

So, go.
  Get out there.
Dive into your August time.

Collect all the golden moments
 your wings can carry.