“And so with the sunshine and the great bursts of leaves growing on the trees, just as things grow in fast movies, I had that familiar conviction that life was beginning over again with the summer.”
― F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby
This summer is a wonderful and special celebration for me as it marks my retirement from a long career in public education. It also marks the dawning for me of a quest or perhaps a passage in my life to a new path, a new life and new beginnings. And it will begin with a summer full of wondrous surprises. And the dawn of each season around the world exemplifies change and surprises for everyone, if we but take the time to look, listen and meld with our surroundings.
So join me as I celebrate this new season of change or what I call “dolce far niente” that pleasant idleness, sweet nothingness that comes from a lazy summer day in the shade with a glass of iced tea.
I hope you enjoy the lovely flowers of summer as it begins in my garden….many spectacular blooms to see, and so many new blooms yet to come.
Rest is not idleness, and to lie sometimes on the grass under trees on a summer’s day, listening to the murmur of the water, or watching the clouds float across the sky, is by no means a waste of time.
John Lubbock
It will be joyous to watch the clouds roll by as the hum of the cicadas melds with the birds and the bees, and I drift off to sleep for a lazy afternoon nap.
Long stormy spring-time, wet contentious April, winter chilling the lap of very May; but at length the season of summer does come.
Thomas Carlyle
Thankfully summer will come and with it I am reborn with time to spend in the garden…hours if I so choose to tend the delicate vines laden with sweet peppers, eggplants and tomatoes ripening, and then partake in the cooking of a fresh meal with these vegetables and herbs grown with love.
Oh, the summer night, Has a smile of light, And she sits on a sapphire throne.
Barry Cornwall
I adore a summer’s night with moonlight shining on my white garden. Listening to the frogs calling, and breathing in the perfumed evening air. We stay up late, and sit around a fire gazing into its hypnotic dance. And fireworks seem to happen every night, as we celebrate the season.
Bees do have a smell, you know, and if they don’t they should, for their feet are dusted with spices from a million flowers.
― Ray Bradbury, Dandelion Wine
Having time to sit for what seems like hours to watch the bees, butterflies and hummingbirds will be heaven. Quietly slipping into their world to quench my curiosity, and perhaps capture incredible memories of the peace of nature.
Ah, summer, what power you have to make us suffer and like it.
Russell Baker
And I will labor in the garden under the heat of the day to feel its healing warmth upon my skin, drink in its energy and feel renewed. With wonderful bike rides exploring the scenery with nowhere in particular to go, and all the time to get there.
So how are you celebrating summer or whatever season is upon you? Do you get that wonderful summer lazy feeling too?
If you want to join in the celebration, check out the Come Join Us section below with all the details of how to participate in this meme.
Mantra for Summer:
There will come a time when you believe everything is finished. Yet that will be the beginning. ~Louis L’Amour
Summer seems the perfect time for me to begin again…as the garden is in full swing needing my attention and I hers. It will be a glorious reaquaintance. I hope we will step back into that delightful natural rhythm I have so longed for.
Come Join Us:
Seasonal Celebrations is a time for marking the change of seasons and what is happening in your part of the world during this time. I hope you will join in by creating a post telling us how you celebrate this time of year whether summer or winter or something else. Share your traditions, holidays, gardens and celebrations in pictures, poetry or words starting June 1st.
And it seems so appropriate to collaborate with Beth and her Lessons Learned meme. What lessons have you learned this past season of spring here in the North and fall in the South. Then tell us about your wishes, desires and dreams for this new season.The rules are simple. Just create a post that talks about lessons learned 
and/or seasonal celebrations. If you are joining in for both memes please leave a comment on both our blog posts. Or if you are choosing to join only one meme, leave a comment on that blog post. Make sure to include a link with your comment.
Beth and I will do a summary post of our respective memes on the solstice (the 21st of June). And we will keep those posts linked on a page on our blog. Your post should be linked in the weekend before the equinox to give us enough time to include your post in our summary. And if you link in a bit late, never fear we will include it on the special blog page (which I still have to create). The badges here can be used in your post. So won’t you join in the celebration!!
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Next up on the blog: Monday is another Gardens Eye Journal as I recap this crazy May and spring.
I hope you will join me for my posts once a month at Beautiful Wildlife Garden. See my most current post now. Next one is up on May 28th.
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