Today is Midsummer's Day. I wrote about Tasha Tudor's Midsummer's Eve celebration earlier in the month. Sarah Ban Breathnach wrote about Tasha's festivities also in her book "Simple Abundance," then goes on to tell us how she, herself, celebrates Midsummer's Day. . . .
I wander out into the backyard very early in the morning and pluck a blossom from the garden heavy with dew. With my fingers, I’ll pat the dew upon my face, for legend has it that any woman who washes her face in the dew of Midsummer’s Day will grow more lovely with the passing year. Fairy cakes are made for tea, midsummer’s syllabub (a delightful concoction of cider, lemon, berries, and whipped cream) is prepared for a moonlit picnic, and personal dreams are renewed.
I think it's a lovely idea to find reasons to celebrate the seasons. There was a time when Summer was all about children home for school vacation, finding activities and trips to keep them busy and enrich their young lives. Now Summer is about enjoying my garden. Things are growing and therefore my garden must be tended: weeding, watering, fertilizing, deadheading. But I also take time to just enjoy it. . . . .the fragrance of Lavender as I harvest it. . . .
The sight of daisies and evening primroses rioting together. . . .
Climbing roses creating bowers over my garden path. . . .
Hearing the high-pitched croak of the frog as I startle him back into the pond when I draw too close. . . .
Anne Shirley in "Anne of Avonlea" says it best. . . .
I believe the nicest and sweetest days are not those on which anything very splendid or wonderful or exciting happens, but just those that bring simple little pleasures, following one another softly, like pearls sipping off a string.
May you find Joy in every day!
.•*¨`*•. ☆ .•*¨`*•
Take Joy!
Anne was certainly right about that, Cathy. To me, the very best days really ARE the ones where nothing very much happens at all - and we're AWARE of just how wonderful that is. Reminds me of that Mark Twain line: "We had mighty good weather as a general thing, and nothing ever happened to us at all..." One thing I've noticed over many years is that when asked to recount their favorite memories, most people don't tend to concentrate on big events at all, but on the "little moments." Parents remember the first time a very young child spontaneously says "I love you.." Kids [of all ages] remember the security of being cuddled with a parent under the covers, having a story read. One of my own all-time favorite memories will always be sitting around the table on my parents' terrace, mostly with just my Mom and sisters, having meals or just coffee and yacking. The MOST ordinary of times. My Dad built the concrete and brick pad for a terrace a few years after we moved to the property, and we used it constantly for 30+ years. Spring, Summer or Fall - breakfast, lunch and/or supper. Many days every meal was served there, and everything under the sun was discussed too. If it wasn't raining, and a warm jacket was enough to be comfortable, that's where we'd usually be. Part of its appeal was that it had the MOST gorgeous view - a huge meadow of the neighboring farm next door. We could hear cows mooing, and roosters crowing all the time [and learned that it's a myth that roosters only crow before dawn - LOL]. Eventually the terrace was dubbed the "19th Hole" by my youngest sister [along with my Mom, an inveterate golf fiend], and to this day, we're all still saying how much we miss the 19th Hole. Lots of very wonderful, very ordinary memories. 💛
ReplyDeleteJanet, I love your "ordinary" memories! If we could ALL learn to be content with the ordinary miracles of life--because, after all, good memories are like miracles, wouldn't you say!
DeleteAnne Shirley hit the nail on the head for me, Cathy. Simple pleasures surround us if we have eyes to see. I love your lavender and wish I had the sun to grow it properly. The sun filtered through your trees is beautiful! In the late afternoon I love seeing this glorious sight! ♥
ReplyDeleteMe, too, Martha Ellen. In my photo it is the morning sun that is filtering through the trees. The western part of our yard doesn't have the right kind of trees to filter the sunlight like this, but I CAN see the sunsetting between them if I go out at just the right time of evening.
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