Seasoning

It has always seemed to me that, from sometime in May or June, I lose track of time, as if the year has speeded up and summer is over before I’ve had time to enjoy it.  Thinking about it, I have a theory.

There always is time to savour the spring, you see, and I think that’s because the changes in nature are so visible.  Even in the winter, we are on the lookout for the first aconites and snowdrops, then crocuses, daffodils, tulips, leading on to bluebells.  Similarly, all the hedgerow flowers, from blackthorn to hawthorn and buds breaking on plum, cherry and apple trees – there’s always something new to look forward to and enjoy.  We watch for the first swallow and house martin, listen for the cuckoo, enjoy watching birds forage for nesting materials and then bustle back and forth with beakfuls of food.  We anticipate the first home-grown radishes, asparagus, lettuce, strawberry and tomatoes and every few days is marked by a new event.

Then we get used to it, and there’s not so much to anticipate.  And all the trees are in full leaf and, apart from anxiously watching to beat the birds to the cherries on the trees (normally won by the early risers), the countryside and the garden is just there, the latter needing to be watered and weeded.  And before we know where we are, it’s mid-July and the year is more than half over and I always feel as if it’s slipped past without me noticing.

12 comments on “Seasoning

  1. Four Dinners

    Maybe my once beautiful garden should remain a building site…then I wouldn’t have that very same feeling!!!

    Still..it will be nice shortly…I hope.

    One of my ponds is still intact mind you – which is quite a relief to the fish and the frogs that have survived The Stealth Bomber (that’s one of our cats by the way) on his nightly hunts.

    Summer used to last forever.

    Getting older should be outlawed!

    Incidentally … why do years / summers get shorter when you get older?

    It’s like we’ve stopped jogging towards shuffling off and have decided to sprint!!!

    The vision of me sprinting is not one to behold immediately after breakfast…that’s for sure!!!

    Reply
  2. Z

    I think that’s another part of it, I think that summer will drift on and on, and I don’t notice how quickly it’s passing. But getting older – you wait until you’re my age, love. You’re still young.

    Reply
  3. Sharon J

    I was thinking the same thing earlier today, that summer is flying past and before we know it autumn sill be here again. I think you may well have hit the nail on the head with your theory. I’m going to make a point of noticing what’s going on around me every day now instead of it “just being there”.

    Reply
  4. Rog

    anticipation is more exciting than the actual thing, so the answer is to make a point of looking forward to the fruits and smells and mists of Autumn. High Summer is always a bit too burnt out with everything stopping growing and too hot for the best dog walks.

    Reply
  5. Dave

    Of course, as a youngster the summer didn’t really start until mid-July, when the school holidays started. We need something similar to help us realise the moment is here to be relished.

    Reply
  6. Christopher

    In the autumn of life it is perpetually spring in my imagination and summer in my heart. I believe there’s another season but I’ve forgotten what it is.

    Reply

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