High Summer

Not what some of you might be thinking -- no Cheech and Chong goings on here. I'm talking about the height of the summer with sunflowers and garden produce and blackberries. Fleas and flies too, more's the pity. Hot, of course, and dry. So I try to get my watering and necessary garden work done before noon, then it's back to Miss Birdie's book and trying to find places to incorporate some of the thought and images of this time of year.

The rows of corn have a rhythm of their own, like soldiers marching. I imagine a swishing, rustling sort of tune and two bare-footed little girls playing hide and seek in the green maze.

The wide brown band on the woolly bear caterpillar -- the first I've seen this year -- promises a mild winter. (Good news with heating prices rising. We heat with wood and have a kerosene backup -- which we'll be using less and less, I have a feeling.) Of course, there's no scientific evidence to support this old wives' tale, but that doesn't mean Miss Birdie doesn't believe it.

So, along with the cucumbers, beans, tomatoes, and squash I picked this morning, I also harvested some ideas. I'll work them up, just like I do the beans and tomatoes and get them into a form that will keep --adding texture and depth to Birdie's book.

P.S. We're keeping two extra dogs for the weekend while my younger son and his girlfriend join her family at the beach. Ali Ali has made himself at home in my work room and though I'm pretty sure he's the cutest dog I've ever seen, I'm going on record here in this public forum to say that probably eight dogs in our house is too many. They're all well-behaved - it's just that they just don't leave much floor space.