Summer

This past week the weather has been fine; summer has finally arrived. By June the cold, late spring came to a fairly abrupt end and everything which had been waiting to grow sprang into life in the gardens and countryside. Now the first flush of spring is fading, early flowers have past and I note a slight feeling of distress. It feels like summer has only just arrived yet it is already racing into autumn! Soon it will be the longest day! In my mind it is only the turn of the year yet here we are halfway through! It's something I forget;  each plant has it's own annual cycle, not all flowers have a long season, although some do, and there are early and late bloomers. Nonetheless, my favorite time of year is the late spring / early summer. Everything seems full of promise. Funny how as that promise unfolds into the present there can be a sense of loss; maybe it's because I live in Northern Britain where the winter is long and the summer short or maybe it's something more in my own conditioning. There's no getting away from impermanence. And thank goodness for that! What would life be without it? And interesting to see this little bit of dukkha spring up as I see the fallen flowers. Did I soak them up enough when they were in their prime? Is that very thought just more craving? As I write I see that my reaction to what is going on in the garden may well be a reflection of my feelings about my 46th birthday tomorrow. I'd no idea I was going to write that! Anyway, life is good and the Buddha land is ever present. More and more this becomes my reality.