Summer, the season I love.

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Summer came home today.  He walked in slowly this year and nearly stole my breath away with his heat.  His shining smile is always following me.  Like before, his coming has made me happy.  Spring has left.  The last of her tears fell yesterday.  Here in the porch garden surrounded by nature, with summer warming my bones I will forget how he left me.  And how I had got cold. 

I dreamt last year that I had followed him.  I had left my bed my home and my yard to walk across the world.  Covered in filthy grime my feet felt worn.  I could barely place one in front of the other my clothes turned to rags on my back.  I had even forgotten why I was walking.  Then I came to a town to that place.  Where I looked up and saw him.  I knew.  Summer was walking past me going the way that I had just come.  The smile on his face mines, only for me.  I awoke tired, sad and lost.  Summer was gone. 

Yesterday I noticed that my friends the sparrows are also back from their winter vacation.  I often wish that I could migrate with them and see what they see.  Bird jealousy is not a pretty thing to admit to.  It is always exciting watching them get ready to leave every year.  Travel to new places is a passion of mine.  For some years now, I have not been able to leave.  I looked at them this morning while I was watering my vegetable garden.  They stood on our side of the street a large group of birds, talking.  About my garden I think.  How nice it looks, about the seeds I planted last week that will never be plants but did make for a nice snack.  They love summer too and have decided to help me in the gardens.  

School is out in celebration of Summer’s return and we have just had our first barbeque dinner in the porch garden.  Chicken, salmon, and hotdogs adorned the grill.  One bee, two flies and my whole family came.  Everyone squeezed in, found a seat and enjoyed each other.  We fed our bodies, while beauty planted fed our souls.  Summer has truly come home to me.  I will make him happy and he will be loath to leave.  I will lose myself in his radiance and he will burn love joy and peace into me.

He will stay with me this time I am sure.

The Porch Garden

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I have always been attracted to flowers and greenery even as a child.  It was not long before I realized that if I was having bad days and I went through the greenhouse section of a store, I would perk right up.  All the flowers and plants there had the simple effect of making me smile; the scents helped me to breathe when I didn’t even know that I was holding my breath.  Being among plants feed my soul.  My senses of touch, smell, sight, taste just come alive. Now I only go to green houses in the winter and in the summer I keep a porch garden.

Spring has just began, and it is time to get work started on the porch garden.  Last year the garden was home to plumb tomatoes and big beef tomatoes.  They were so delicious.  All of my house plants found themselves outside.  Rosemary and her friends Sage, Oregano, Mint and Sweet-basil made life in the little garden on the porch wonderful and fragrant.  The children learned to name, recognize and care for all the plants that lived there.

My sister Jacky our family chef cooked lots of special foods with the materials from our garden.  We had the daily pleasure of walking out to the porch-garden/Sanctuary for coffee or just to pick 3 sprigs of mint to add to a jug of lemonade at dinner time.  This was incredible for us because we lived on the third floor.  When the frost came in it was miserable and a bit depressing knowing we would soon be inside for the winter.  The frost damaged some plants and the apartment could not support the herbs so we ended up losing those as well.  Our apartment was just too small and dark.

We moved last November and even though our new place is bigger we are still on the third floor.  Here I feel like a rich woman when I sit in my empty living room and survey the square footage.  Blossoms, foliage and more Plant life are my big plan.  In the spring time I will have greenery, in the summertime too and Greenery in the fall and if I have my way in this house with all these windows and space, I will have a green and white winter.  Imagine that, happiness in the winter.

The new porch is large, 7 feet wide and 16 feet long, it has great potential.  We have a lot of work to do before this new porch can be called “The garden”.  The last tenants where not kind to the place.  They kept a dog on the porch, but did not keep him well.  When we moved in here it was cold, and now that it is getting warm it has also become the time to clean away the smell of dog and the mess.  The first thing we will need to do is empty the area and clean it with a scrub brush and lots of soap and water.  There is outdoor carpeting, the green grass stuff, the new landlord said it is in good condition.  The cleaning will tell.  This is an exciting time, I have to remember to save more egg containers for the tomato seeds and get potting soil for all the new slips I have been taking from the house plants.