Surrounded by
by Sue-Ryn
The abundance of harvest season is a heady experience. The fruits of one’s labors do literally pile up in buckets, baskets, and drying bunches; the miracle of those gritty little seeds made manifest.
The transition from green to all the other colors only ads to the magic. Different scents come up from misty mornings and dry afternoons. The summer was extremely hot around this region and all of nature seems to be enjoying the shift to cooler days and nights and occasional showers.
Recently while escorting my eighteen month old great nephew, Zeke, on a short hill climb in the park, we came upon a purple-leaved tree. Purple, not just a shade maroon. His Mom and I stood there in awe for a few moments until he wanted to move along. I’m sure we must have walked at least a mile up the hill, then down to the water, and back to the playground for some climbing and sliding, exploring cones and leaves and stones. I try to spend some time with Juwon and Zeke regularly because I know they’ll be moving on soon to a new life elsewhere and when I next see this youngster he may be much older....and I will be too. Sharing the magic of nature with him now is important to me. I want him to remember the beauty of this place where he learned to walk.
On the way to and from their current home there are summer places that are empty most of the year. Once when we were going somewhere in a group I drove them back the long way to the main road so they could enjoy the flowers blooming their hearts out in several unoccupied yards. Again, on the way back from another outing, I stopped and marveled at an old sprawling stand of lilacs that had mostly dropped their leaves due to drought in which three or four shrubs displayed second flowerings on their very tops....I picked some to take home. It was a scent “out of season” but sweet and dreamy as an evening in June and proof that I wasn’t making it up.
The Maximillion Sunflowers are coming on strong, giving the bees a second wind and a last blast of work and food. One night at dusk I discovered the blossoms were full of sleeping Bumblebees, slumbering in twos and threes. I called the woman who had given them to me, to tell her to go and look in her substantial patch. Sure enough she called back to tell me hers were full of sleeping Bumblebees too. This year I will check to see if they build any winter nests in the long hollow stems. I know they had a summer nest in a crevice near the comfrey that has taken over a corner near the deck, perhaps to be closer to the blossoms they love so much. Currently the chipmunks hide under those giant leaves and observe whether the dog is on duty on the porch or not.
Working with herbs and wildlife some might say I have more than my share of magic but I think I’ve just learned to notice it more. We live our lives on a magic planet. From those dandelions pushing up through the blacktop to the birdsong and tree-sweet wafting on the breeze to the fire in the sky each dusk and dawn to the rhythm of rain on the roof. Look up from your devices, go out and move through it, breathe deeply, or sit and observe. We are all surrounded by magic.
