The month of August has always seemed to be a “grab fun as you can” sort of month, preceding the start of the new school year. August has a certain feeling to it, perhaps a foreboding of the autumn and winter to come. Days may be hot, but nights are much cooler, giving us a break from that repressive heat. Soon enough, we will be paying for heat, so we might as well enjoy these warm days.
Rugosa Rose
The Rugosa Roses in the yard are already setting up “Rose Hips.” Some industrious folks make “Rose Hip Jelly.” Somehow, that seems like something Tasha Tudor would do! Last winter, with snow piled so high that the deer could barely walk through it, the Rose Hips were eaten by them and and provided vitamins and minerals culled from summer sunshine.
Every living thing has a reason for existing, although we humans do not always understand the interactions between animals, plants and their environment. Flowers, while fun for us to view and sometimes pick, provide nutrients to the bees, ants, and hummingbirds. I enjoy thinking about all of us and the universe as part of a great Master Plan.
Luckily, there are many more days of August left, and other activities to draw our interest. Enjoy the days of summer, while they last.
My mother always had what looked like a framed Sampler on her wall. It had been a wedding gift in 1937, and was printed paper that just looked like a Sampler. I have seen others in antique shops. The words of the one she had were actually written by a poet, Robert Herrick (1591-1674):
Gather ye rosebuds while ye may,
Old Time is still a-flying;
And this same flower that smiles today,
Tomorrow will be dying.
So, “Gather ye rosebuds,” and, as Tasha Tudor would say, “Take joy!”
Patricia Cummings
Quilter’s Muse Publications – that now has a link on the front page so you can read some of the welcome letters sent to me by my Dad, when I lived in Spain.
Tags: August, Sampler on paper
