Greenblade - creation - faith - justice

Greenblading

— by Susan Dixon

Lughnasa

Two days ago the season made a little turn. There are signs – a change in the light, in the sounds of insects, in the way the plants bend under the rain. The squash plants are still putting energy into the leaves; soon it will all go into the fruit. The tomatoes are just beginning to turn. Most of the elderberries are still green and upright but a few, filling with juice and turning purple, have dropped downwards. The days are shorter, steamy and hot. This the leading edge of Lughnasa, Celtic autumn, meaning harvest.

Sensing these subtle changes in season is a way to develop awareness of place. It is easy to fall into the stereotypical definitions of seasons: spring = daffodils and tulips, summer = tomatoes and corn, fall = pumpkins and chrysanthmums, and winter = root vegetables. The seasons move organically from one to another, though, out there in the world and that’s the show to watch. How do we get from all that early exuberant growth to harvest? When is the corn tall enough to tassle? How do the birds make the decision to leave? What are all those insects we are hearing? These are useful questions to answer in the coming weeks.

Memorize places. Settle your eyes on a place and learn it. See it under the snow, and when first grass is growing, and as the rain falls on it. Feel it and smell it, walk on it, touch the stones, and it will be with you forever.

Frank Sam Nakai, in The Ghostway by Tony Hillerman

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