Peak Sun
For me the Seasons come and go;
There are so many.
For you, there are so few,
Each one is precious.- London Plane Tree.
This evening I went walking, out into the setting sun, to open myself to this special time of year, the longest day, the Summer Solstace. From here on in, the days are shortening, the nights lengthening, and Summer passing into Autumn. On occasions I can set my identity and mind aside and connect to something greater, to the environment around me, to Nature itself. These cycles are not something separate from us, they are a part of us, as we are a part of them.
Gratitude, preciousness, witnessing. These were the watchwords that were taught to me, my own wisdom reflecting in the trees I sometimes like to speak to, who often speak back. I felt it strongly. What if this is my last Summer? I cannot take it for granted. Like most people, I have preferences regarding which season it is, and what the weather is like, but with the thought it could be the last one, that certainly changes one’s outlook. If it was your last ever rainy day, would you care that it was not sunny? What good is it to miss out on the delights of this moment wishing that things were different?
Not for myself I thought it, but for everyone and everything. The birds were flying and singing around me, starlings, blackbirds, as they like to do around this time. The clouds golden from the sun, not judging or caring too much about what I was thinking or saying, I prayed for another year, another Summer, not just for me, but for everyone and everything. All life on Earth depends on the sun, and the cycles of it. Not for me then, but for them, the birds around me, the grass below me. Let Life carry on, even if I’m gone.
Not that I intend to be, of course.