08.04.15  Not only have they stripped most of the geranium pots of their summer-red blossoms, they took down the entire window box on the little cabin down by the water in their frenzy of eating.  In the UK, they call August “High Summer” and the quintessential English gardens are in full and explosive glorious bloom.  Well, not here.  Sigh.

It’s my Sarah’s birthday on this High Summer day, and I will see her soon.  We are off this morning for Colorado and a celebration of my two sisters’ joint birthday, in the company of my brother, who may or may not be in the hospital on a clinical trial.  It’s a heart-rendering reunion, and an important one.  On our long drive back home early next week, we’ll celebrate Joy’s birthday with her in Billings.  The Berkeley family will be with us the last week of August.  Flowers or not, it is still High Summer!

The Lammas Celebration (who knew) starts the beginning of August.   According to the School of the Seasons blog I sometimes read, August 1 and 2 are four season quarter-days, far less observed than our solstices, yet they acknowledge the eternal rotation of the earth around the sun.  Grain is its symbol and baking a loaf of bread is a great way to observe the holiday, and like all celebrations, there must be a grand feast.

Lammas is a festival of regrets and farewells, of harvest and preserves.  It’s suggested that we observe this holiday by thinking of the things we meant to do this season but did not.  What is passing from our lives and where do we need to say good-bye?  What did we harvest this year?  What can we preserve in our memory from this sweet time of the year?

Food for thought on a long road trip.