Golden Season

An Ode to Summer

How does it happen

the passage of time

picking up speed this time of year

leaving only a short window

for avocados to become creamy and peaches to thrive

to be overwhelmed by the fragrance of jasmine and lavender

carried by the evening breeze,

for the pink and white peonies to unfurl from their tight globes

hesitant to burst open the sweet layers that reveal their full glory

what are they afraid of -

peaking too soon, setting expectations too high?

The sun its brightest, highest, most golden

stars sparkling on a night navy curtain

lit by the moon.

Then there’s us.

We work and play and travel

we read and write

and eat and drink as we always do

but when we do things now,

we mimic the snail rather than the roadrunner.

Life is easier.

Life is sweeter.

Ice cream becomes a food group, dessert a non-negotiable.

We swim to cool down

we swim in the absence of rain.

When the rain makes a rare visit we drink in its petrichor,

dance in its warm puddles

and crane our necks at the rainbows painting the sky colors found in a box of crayons.

We dread the end

warned by cooler nights

because the flowers will die

and there will be no fresh strawberries to buy at the market

or pick from the garden.

We settle for apples but how many apples can we eat?

Unless we bake pie.

So we bake pie.

We close the windows,

pull out the sweaters and the extra blankets.

We build fires.

We neglect our fit bodies, abandon squeezing them into bathing suits

and lose our tans.

We stockpile salty snacks and swap rosé for red.

We plan the turkey dinner and where to spend Christmas.

This might be the year we ski.

Our time to thrive fades

melancholy replaces joy.

We drive our cars home from work in the dark on crowded freeways.

We dread the pressure of the dates approaching on our new calendars

with their lists, reminders, and big deadlines;

resolutions are abandoned.

Until the days stretch and become longer

the May haze and June Gloom, cyclical coastal markers

of both endings and beginnings.

Soon we are picking the blueberries and eating cucumbers

and sizzling meats on our grills that go great with fresh corn.

We sail on boats, surf, and splash in the sea.

We watch fireworks.

And we decide that summer isn’t a break or a midpoint

but the main attraction.

Summer is the thing we have waited for all year

to witness once again how nature transforms

death into life, cold into warmth, darkness to light.

Then there’s us.

We shine our brightest, at our most golden

just like the sun - ruler of these long days.

If each day has a golden hour, each year has a golden season.

You know the one.