“Summertime and the living is easy.”
George Gershwin

“We might think we are nurturing our gardens, but of course it’s our garden that is really nurturing us.”
Jenny Uglow

Summer in Maine is a gift, and I enjoy every moment of it. Back when I signed up to host, July seemed like a far away dream. Now spring blossoms are memories, the month is half over, and the specter of August hovers on the horizon. As much as a big part of me misses being at school with kids and colleagues, another part of me cringes at the thought of the start of the school year and the end of summer. There’s much I love about teaching, but the relentless pace of the days is NOT one of those things. “Autumn days and the living is easy,” sang NO teacher ever!

This week I decided to revisit an earlier prompt from Linda Mitchell and use Pat Schneider’s The Moon, Ten Times as a mentor poem again. I thought I’d put on my half-full glasses (half of July remains!) and focus on what I love about summer. It was tough to limit myself to ten things, and I omitted many much-beloved aspects of summer (fireflies, beach walks, birds, dragonflies, frogs, etc.). I’m also uncertain about the order–it’s rather haphazard, but perhaps that mimics the luxury of disorganized summer days, right? Here’s what I’ve got so far:

Summer, Ten Times

1. Morning transformation
   bird song displaces
   the radio alarm
   
2. Time warp
   hands rummage in rich earth
   hours vanish
   
3. Baby Boom
   each day a new arrival
   in the garden
   
4. Eau de Summer
   plush floral tones, fresh-mown lawns
   the scent of sun-dried sheets
   
5. Verdant woods
   air shifts and pulses
   in sun-shafted spectrums of green
   
6. The sweet tyranny
   of ripe berries
   
7. Sparkles of laughter
   arc as high
   as the sprinkler’s spray
   
8. Surprise!
   Dance parties
   in the center of the zinnias!
   
9. Sun-lit windowsills
   dotted with geraniums
   and the occasional sleeping cat
   
10. An ending and beginning:
    Spring’s coda
    Fall’s prelude
    

©Molly Hogan

So, what would be on your summer time list? I’d love to know! If you want to share, add your thoughts in the comments. In the meantime, thanks so much for stopping by the Roundup today. You can add your link here to participate:

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I’m posting this early as I am out of town until Friday evening. I may be able to read and comment here and there before then, but mostly I’ll be reading and commenting over the weekend.