“Summertime,and the livin’ is easy…Fish are jumpin’ and the cotton is high.”

 ~ George Gershwin

Here’s to hoping your living is easy this summer. When you walk outside and the air feels like a flannel shirt turned inside out and the light has a glint to it like water on a frogs back, you know it has arrived.

Flowers are coming and going at a rapid pace, some linger for weeks while others make a huge splash for just a day or so. (like my San Pedro’s above, 48 hours and it’s over. However, they usually make one or two repeat performances before the summer is over.)

At the top of the hill on our pre-breakfast morning walk we witnessed a pair of Tiger Swallowtail butterflies doing an impressive duet. Chasing each other around the bushes near the one spot where the wind stops these two would suddenly whirl around each other in a frenzy going straight up in the air at least fifty feet before diving off in separate directions, only to regroup a few moments later and do it again.

We found a new resident in the rocks beneath our cactus and tomatoes, a long and brightly colored lizard with speckled skin and a knowing gleam in his (or her?) eye. His tail had been truncated by some predator so he had a shortened appearance, but due to the magic of reptile biology its replacement was growing in rapidly.

This year we planted a couple of passionflower vines below the fence in hopes that blooms and foliage will take over the aging wood planks. A twisted and vine-like piece of scrap metal made it home with me from the workshop and found a home in an old metal fence-pole, creating a natural place for the vines to climb.

Like an old friend reaching out to a long-lost mate for a hug, the passionflower vine has been reaching across several feet of open space until yesterday it finally got the scrap metal in its tendrils and will now be able to climb to the sky like Jack with his beanstalk.

We seem to have an ideal environment for hummingbirds, the large bottlebrush bush that covers the corner of our house has them humming about the bright red tips seemingly year-round. The best is when we are lounging in the shade on the chaise and they come down to hover about our heads with curiosity or care, we’re not sure which.

With school out it’s high-tide for kids and critters around here. Although they come and go with plans and travel, there are times when we have not one, but two actual teenagers in the house, occasionally some other related young adults, not to mention the cat, the dog, the bird, and the bunny. Trips to the grocery store resemble treks across the Sahara with a pack of overloaded camels.

And my! What a difference in perspective! Summer in the eyes of a tween-ager, (13-years-old to be precise) is an endless stretch of sleeping in, hanging out with friends, (thank you covid-vaccine!), and binge-watching Netflix). For us grownups with jobs, businesses, and deadlines to meet, it’s halfway to the holidays and it feels like we’ve barely got the year started.

What’s a dog and a cat to do when Netflix has no allure? Well, we’ve got a daily squirrel circus to keep them entertained. For months now there has been a squirrel visiting us on the back deck. We gave it the not-so-creative moniker of ‘Bushy’ and watched as it became more plump and rounded with every unsalted dry-roasted peanut we handed out.

Lo-and-behold, it became obvious that Bushy was a mom, and soon she had two little ones following her to the magical peanut dispensary that is our back door. So now Ivan, (our large and goofy Labrador/Pit-Bull rescue dog), and Ozzie, (our arrogant and bossy feline who was saved from a life as a feral as a kitten) have a few hours each day in front of the sliding glass door rapt with attention at the antics of the squirrel family.

The twin youngsters of the squirrel clan like to wrestle and roll around on one another, while the mamma squirrel will nitpick and groom either of them if she gets the chance. The fact that only a thin pane of glass separates them is of no concern, oblivious as they are to the fact that either Ivan or Ozzie would love to sink their teeth into them.

The long days, the short nights, and the full glory of the flora and fauna make this the season of plenty. May your summer be as soft as a feather and as light as the floating seeds of a dandelion!

Much love till next week!

M+

Mark Metz
Director of the Dance First Association
Publisher of Conscious Dancer Magazine