Thursday, July 3, 2014

Fourth Of July Prayer

Tomorrow is the 4th of July, the summeriest summer day of all I suppose, and I'm on the back porch as always and it's not too hot because it almost rained and the thunder has been rolling through the celestial bowling alley for hours now. The crickets are singing the most primal and beautiful of music, the sound of their voices (or is their legs?) rising and falling and I think of how the cicadas sound on the islands, both St. George and Dog in the summer. They start in one part of the island and the music spreads, section by section until the entire air is filled with it, so loud the human ear can barely stand it, the human heart the same. They sing the sun down,  the moon up, they may as well be telling the story of the earth and the seas, our planet from the moment of its inception to the salty soup from which we come to the creation of mountains and of the Great Trees, the tiny frogs and immense winged birds, the mind of humans, who imitated lightening and created fire, who imitated the cicadas and created drums and raised their forming voices to chant into the sky above the sparking flames which rose as if to touch the stars.

And how do YOU think of the 4th of July?

Ah well. We do have watermelon. That's 4th-y, right? Last night Mr. Moon brought home a watermelon that was bigger than...well, let's see. I've compared a squash to King Kong's dick and this was twenty times that size. Godzilla's dick? The Goodyear Blimp? Whatever, you get the picture. The butcher block counter barely held it and I doubt I could have carried it. He cut up half of it and put it in chunks in a Tupperware in the refrigerator and took the rest to the refrigerator out in the garage. I have a feeling that even the chickens will be celebrating this weekend with watermelon.

The boys are coming tomorrow and we should have fun with them. We have nothing special planned and they won't know the difference. Their parents can take them tomorrow night to see fireworks if they want. We will eat watermelon here in Lloyd.

I spent today doing the little things- the walk, washing sheets, tidying up, and then I attempted death by weeding in July but I did not die and I fed the goats next door some of the giant grasses I pulled up and I felt strong out in the sun, sweating pouring off my body, my arms tensed as I wrenched the roots from the ground.
And then I took a shower and had a nap and the thunder woke me up.

This is summer. Heat and growth and crickets and cicadas and watermelons and naps and fireworks if you want them. Salads with tomatoes and avocados and sweet Vidalia onions. The Beauty Berries are blooming, the bees are upon them, I saw my first blooming clitoria of the season today.

Pictures to follow.

Go clean the grill, go ice the beer, go dig out the ice-cream freezer, eat a peach, listen to the crickets, find an icy spring or a river or a lake or an ocean to jump into or maybe just fill up the kiddy pool.
It is summer, it is green, it is red, white, and blue if that is what you want.
Watch the fireworks or just the stars. Either way, raise your eyes upward.
Sleep to the lullaby of the spheres, the sound of the ocean rushing in your body as your heart beats the rhythm of the universe in summer.

And the rain now gently falls.

Amen.









12 comments:

  1. I like that you announce the clitoria blooming. And before I had time to finish my wondering if you would be posting a picture you assured me you would. It was nice to sit on the porch with you for a bit just now.

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  2. no, I don't use chrome ...I'm very low tech and I guess I use msn?? ..anyway ..yes, every time. and it seems like it is only your blog so far. When I click out and then come back in it doesn't happen again until the next time.

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  3. Jill- It is a very, very good place to be. Pictures of the clitoria next week. I assure you.

    Ain'tfor city gals- Damn. I wonder why this is happening. I surely am not getting any $ for it.

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  4. Another beautifully written blog! I am eager to read your shebook when it's published.

    Georgie J.

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  5. Amen. Another beautiful post. I hope your day with the boys is lovely. How can you go wrong with too much watermelon?
    I've been reading, just not enough time to comment, but it is the most comforting thing to stop by and catch up on your days, no matter where I am or what is going on.
    By the way, from an earlier post, your new kitty is awesome. I hope the rodents never show their faces again. Isn't amazing how quickly we come to love the creatures that live with us?

    xo

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  6. I'm here. Barely. Still here though.
    Clitoria. What?! I'm not going to google that.

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  7. You know, I completely forgot today is July 4. That's how much it's on my mind -- and as an expat I'm surrounded by people for whom it's just another day! I wish we had a watermelon, though.

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  8. Georgia sews- I appreciate that so much.

    Mel- It is good to be busy! I'm glad to know you're here. And yes, it's very strange to me how much a part of my life Maurice has become.

    Heartinhand- It's a beautiful little flower. You can google it safely.

    Steve Reed- Watermelon is the best.

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  9. our crickets and cicadas have not come out yet...

    enjoy the fam


    xxxalainaxx

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  10. July 4th isn't to me what it used to be. Today would have been my mom's 80th birthday. We lost her five years ago. What used to be barbecued pork steaks, family at the lake and fireworks has become the day spent sitting on my deck reading and drinking sweet tea. I sure do miss my mama, and prefer to reminisce about our July 4th's in peace and quiet. I'm also lucky to have a hubby that understands this.

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  11. July 4 means thinking about Yorktown, VA near where I grew up and the surrender of Cornwallis to the Americans and French. The French liked us back then. Not so sure now.
    And July 4 means fireworks over the harbor and a great pot luck dinner on the boat. A chance to chill and take some photos. I like fireworks because they are happy and remind me of seeing them when I was a child. Nothing like some huge pyrotechnics.

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Tell me, sweeties. Tell me what you think.