New England is deep into summer. The greens have lost their newness and have darkened into a lush verdancy. Roadsides are strewn with Queen Ann’s Lace and Daylilies. Purple Loosestrife has filled the wetlands along the edges of the rivers and marshlands. Evening shadows lengthen until 8:30 p.m. before falling away to the night. Eighty-degree days toast the air and herald the coming of sixty-degree evenings. Wood thrushes sing from the woods the most beautiful sounds of nature.
If one leaves the rush of the highways and slows down on the winding rock fence walled roads that led to calendar picture villages, one is treated to well-mown yards and Edenic flower gardens. Unique houses fly flags as do the light poles in the towns. One can feel the pride of home and country when moving along the oak and maple lined streets. If you turn off the air-conditioning and roll down the windows almost every street fills one’s nostrils with the glory of some backyard chef trying out his charcoal grill. In the distance you can hear the calliope sounds of Pop Goes the Weasel as the local ice cream man slowly moves through the neighborhoods baiting both little and big people to come and buy Snow cones, Popsicles and Eskimo Pies.
Summertime in New England is as good as life gets. It fills one with thanksgiving and praise for the one who made it and closed out Genesis ! with “that’s very good.”
“He owns the day and the night. He put the stars and sun in place. He laid out the four corners of earth and shaped the seasons of summer and winter.” Psalm 74:16 – 17
Written by Roger Bothwell on July 14, 2008
Spring of Life Ministry, PO Box 124, St. Helena, CA 94574
Rogerbothwell.org