Pondering: Summer Gratitude
There is a unique beauty to each season of the year, but summer is my favorite. More than once over the course of the last couple of months I have experienced a sense of awe and gratitude at the abundance Mother Earth offers during this season. It is an unending feast for the senses.
Here in Iowa, I am drawn to the sounds of rain and thunder, the birds, crickets, frogs, and cicadas.
There is a plethora of color all around in the flowers, gardens, and trees.
Tasting fresh sweet corn or a tomato that has just been picked are also moments to savor. These are colors, smells, and tastes that we only experience a few months of the year. Too often, I take them for granted.
This summer, I have been trying to pay attention to that feeling of awe and gratitude. I want to let it soak in and appreciate the moment.
As Earth prepares to begin her transition to fall, I carry with me a question that Robin Wall-Kimmerer asks in her book, Braiding Sweetgrass, “The robin sings her thanks at sunrise every morning. Ask yourself, ‘What do I do to say thanks?’”
Beautifully said and felt, Katie. I too, am grateful for summer and there is nothing like Iowa corn!
Thank you, Katie. I just came back from my morning walk through the streets in my neighborhood. The lushness of the great trees, the flowers in people’s yards, the birds chattering away and rabbits munching on green grass while I try to dodge getting dowsed by sprinklers. I too love summer – and the other three seasons as well. God and mother Earth are so good to us. BUT, am missing the Iowa sweet corn!
Thanks for the lovely litany of gratitude, Katie. Reminds me that I can adapt your reflection for Autumn, Winter and Spring as well. I love the seasonal change as each comes to the Midwest.
Thank you, Katie. I am deeply grateful for your summer reflections. I often pause to reflect on summer’s gifts and my gratitude for the gifts of seasonal change in the Midwest. Two of my favorite summer gifts are fresh sweet corn and home grown tomatoes. These gifts are especially hard to find this summer due to climate change I presume. However, I love being outside and breathing in hopefully fresh air, pondering the summer dress of trees, bushes and flowers; giving thanks for the community garden very near us, wind blowing through my hair.
Inside I hear loud, beautiful birdsong which brings much joy. Seasons are gifts that never stop nourishing me beyond imagining.
Thanks so much, Katie, for reminders about summer’s gift and blessings. So well put —
We are grateful for our shared garden — with beans, tomatoes, peppers, herbs and the forever rhubarb. California fruits and veggies abound and flowers grace us everywhere. The crape myrtle is abundant and the white, pink and dark magenta color the neighborhoods.
Thank you, Katie for your summer ponderings. Each morning I step out on my porch and give thanks for the wonders of the day. During the summer I give thanks for the sunshine and blue skies or sometimes the wispy or cotton fluffy clouds, for purple, yellow, red flowers that surround the house, the swaying trees and sounds of bird and wind and cars passing by. During my walks I love to sing: “O living breath of God… awaken us to hope, to joy, … to the coming of the light.”.