Brood XIII emerged, to great fanfare and publicity, but now the circus is over. Enough of a good thing! Now we can return to a normal summer. It’s time to slow down and pause to appreciate the small, unpublicized, unnoticed wonders that Nature brings us every day.

 

One day I experienced a bonanza of wonders: while walking my dog in the early morning, I spotted an owl flying through the neighbor's woods, a great blue heron winging gracefully along the creek, and a pileated woodpecker perching on a tree! The next day, again while walking the dog, a tiny feather floated down through the air and landed at my feet, fluffy gray with red at the tip, from a robin no doubt. I knew it was meant for me.

 

What have you noticed lately? Did you uncover a toad lounging in a shady nook of your garden? Did you wake a napping garter snake as it dreamed in a pool of sunshine? Did you fall asleep at night to the music of the crickets and awaken to the dawn chorus?

 

Did you relish the crunch of the gravel beneath your feet as you walked down the road, sniff the so-yellow scent of a dandelion, or gaze at a green sweat bee gathering pollen from a pale lavender aster? And what about the lightning bugs–surely you’ve waited in the soft hours of twilight for their magical lanterns?

 

Did you pick a baneberry fruit and find it to be sweet? Did you chew a piece of wood sorrel and squint your eyes at the tart burst of flavor? Did you rub a velvety walnut branch and sniff the bright woodsy scent? Did you pause to admire the goldfinches dipping and bobbing like flying chips of butter among the sky-blue chicory flowers at the roadside?

 

May your August be filled with such delights, and more!