Radiant Children of the Sun

There are clear skies at sunrise and whole fields of sunflowers in bloom.  The corn is so tall that one can stand in it, and she is completely hidden from view.  Damson plums on the sideboard, heaps of buttery wax beans and soon, the first tomatoes of the season in the kitchen - it doesn't take much to get one thinking squirrel thoughts at a time of the year when gardens and orchards are making ready to strew fresh organic produce before us like flowers.

In the wide fields beyond the fence, bumbles and wasps are intoxicated by the nectar of waving goldenrod and summer daisies, and they're lurching ecstatically from flower to flower. Sheaves of grain from the first harvest are drying in the sunlight, and with all the rain this year so far, corn is reaching for the sky with every fiber of its being.  Tomatoes in the garden, tiny green apples and plums in the old orchard - all have a long way to go, but are already giving off a fine spice.

Every season has its tutelary spirits and deities, and the gift bearing guardians of summer are many. Think Lugh, Dionysus, Bacchus and Silenus, Adonis, Tammuz, Saturn and Pan. Think Demeter, Kore and Nokomis, Dame Kind, the Corn Mother, Ceres, Parvati and Pomona. And the Old Wild Mother??? She is surely here in our garden in summer, but every season of the turning year is hers.

Everything in nature seems to adore sunflowers - this one is strung with spider webs and graced by a legion of dancing ants.  Sunlight seen through its petals is something special, and the architecture of its heart is astonishing in color and complexity, a veritable community of tiny blooms rather than just one large one.

Among the comings and goings of this sun and rain blessed season, there is a radiant life that dazzles the wanderer's eyes and touches her spirit with gladness.