Blessings: Sweet Relief
Blueberries as far as the eye can see at Green Mountain Orchards.
I don’t know where you’re reading this, or what your summer has been like, but this summer in northern New England has been seriously hot and humid. After a late Spring that saw near constant rain, things suddenly shifted in late June and early July, and it has been downright sweltering. This was especially poor timing in our household, too, as our mini-splits have been acting up, and neither the “cool” mode nor the “dry” mode is functioning. (We can still pump hot air into our home if we so choose, so I suppose that’s good news?) So for what felt like weeks on end, we were sleeping poorly even with the addition of a borrowed portable A/C unit on loan from my gracious Mother-in-Law. Hot-and-humid … ugh. I tend to believe that one can’t complain year ‘round about the weather, so I save up my gritchy, grumpy complaints for just this sort of situation. When the air is thick, my energy falters, and I become nearly as unpleasant as the weather itself. I can’t believe I’ve been very fun to live with, frankly, but I really, really am not cut out for this!
And then … out of the blue … sweet relief! This past Friday evening, things dried out, and the temperature dropped to 51º over night. Fifty-one degrees fahrenheit! Heavenly! We slept with the windows open and a ceiling fan on, and let me tell you, that sleep was absolute bliss. In the morning, I rose early and headed to Green Mountain Orchard in Putney.
The kitchen at Green Mountain Orchard: checkerboard tile, red walls, stainless steel accoutrements, and SO MANY PIES. I wish you could smell it!
There was no one in the little market area when I arrived, but I was welcomed by the embracing aroma of the treats that were cooling on their kitchen counters: blueberry muffins, scones, buckle, and pies. I breathed it all in, and then wandered into the fields with my bucket hanging from my neck, and I picked blueberries in the cool breeze, something that would have been unimaginable for me just the day before. The birds called to each other, the bees were buzzing nearby, and everything felt possible. I hope you’ve had a day like that sometime recently, too.
and so … a blessing:
When the air is stuffy and the sun is relentless,
when sleep is fitful and comfort is out of reach,
may you find shade and breeze and rest.
May the jeweled berries slake your thirst,
may the birds sing their greetings,
and may the aunties bake what delights you.
May you find the time or make the time
to notice beauty or create it,
to attend to love and to share it,
to pause and take it all in,
and may your bucket brim with blueberries.
love,
Susie