Reflection of a Late Summer's Day

Thursdays in summer are some of my favorite days.

Whenever I can, I make a date with myself and the Princeton Farmers' Market. Locally-sourced and grown, fresh, often organic produce, meats, and cheeses. Home-prepared artisanal products. The entire square is filled with people selling fresh flowers, honey and other items from a local apiary, locally-bottled extra virgin olive oil from olives grown on a family-owned orchard in Greece. And so much more. There's usually music provided by local artists.

I take an hour or two to move through the market slowly, savoring the experience and choosing. But today I had an early meeting and it was a quick winding through early in the afternoon. I came home with peaches, arugula, grape tomatoes, fresh mint, and a bar of exquisitely-crafted dark chocolate with a touch of lavender petals. 

The kitchen smells like ripe peaches again. A cue for me to be in joy and in gratitude.

I'm noticing the evening sky is darkening an hour earlier these days. I miss that extra hour, but it feels like a real pleasure to have some of the late summer's cooler evenings. 

There's a breeze moving through my kitchen. 

We are fortunate in the mid-Atlantic to enjoy the seasons. Each one has its beauty and wonder. I can see that the trees look like they are ready to release their leaves. They seem to be a little bowed over from the weight of carrying the leaves for so many months. They are heavy with summer's fullness. And some are already beginning to drop their first leaves. I see the tell-tale signs on the streets and sidewalks. 

The cicadas are singing this evening. Their hypnotic songs lull me.

It's been a long day. I feel the same sort of heaviness I see mirrored in the trees outside my kitchen window. It's time to lay down the day's challenges and rest in the lighter energy of the evening and it's cool softness. To listen to nature's songs and to be soothed by the soft energy of the gathering nightfall.

   




The Summer of Self-Love is a daily writing practice created to harness three months for thriving. The goal at the end is to host a dinner party. Sounds like an odd Hero's Journey, doesn't it? Most of them usually are.