August forever….

I like to talk about August. My heart beats to the rhythm of  August…much more so than June or July.
June and July feel like hot, sticky, scramble to get packed, get out of town, fight the traffic and the airports, too hot to sleep, too hot to eat, but damn it, its summer and we are going to make the most of it. Finalize all the final wedding details and find beds for all the out of town guests.  Pay the caterer and tear down the wedding tent.  Lock the house, take the dog to the kennel, set up irrigation for the lawn and flowers, grab your passports, pick up the meds, clean out the fridge and empty the garbages.  We are on a tight schedule.  Gas up the car, get out the maps, google the sights.  Gather all the jet skis and the surfboards and the inner tubes and the snorkels and ice packs and the air conditioners and the fans and let’s start having fun.  

But August……August is slow down time. It can still be hot but instead of fighting it, we bask in it.  We slow down and we quit scrambling.  We finally give into summer as we see it starting to fade.  We lie in the grass and gaze up at the clouds.  We let ladybugs crawl up our arms and take pictures of butterflies. We eat watermelon on the porch with juice dripping down our chin.  We go on a picnic and while away the afternoon chatting about recipes and books and places we’ve been.  There is no schedule. We get up early to lollygag at the local farmers market and buy all kinds of treats we wouldn’t normally.  Pies and tarts, jams and dressings.  Veggies and fruit and we eat much healthier.  Much more laid back.  Gone are the corn dogs and mini donuts of the fair.  Gone are the burgers and fries that make us feel heavy and tired.  Welcome, lobster boils and smores.  Hello to the straw hats and flowy caftans.  Sit in the shade of an enormous tree and read all the books we’ve been saving for August.  Sit on the dock at midnight with your feet dangling in the water and listen to the crickets or the loons. Or both.  Lay in a lounger in the backyard and name the constellations.  Build a tent out of a patio umbrella and some sheets and sleep outside. Light some candles to keep the bugs at bay. Cut some flowers and take them to a shut-in.  Listen to the rain through screen doors and scratch the dogs belly.  Pull out your easel and paint.   No better time to have a puzzle sprawled across the table to pick away at when the weather isn’t cooperating.  You won’t need the table because you’re eating most of your meals outside.  Take an afternoon nap.  Walk for miles on the beach with sand running through your toes and smoothing out the skin on your feet. Collect sea shells and drift wood. Sit on a patio and sip ice tea with your besties.  Canoe or kayak out to the middle of the lake and gaze up at the mountains and watch the clouds blow past the sun in intervals.  Relish the calm and the quiet.  

Take it all in because it will be another year before August comes around again.  Don’t wish it away.  Don’t think about September.  There will be plenty of time for September in September.  Live in the moment. Spend a lot of time with your eyes closed just listening to the sounds – of the trees and the rain and the lawnmowers and the laughter of children, grandma telling stories of the good old days.  This is August.