Summer Daydreams

Breathless, we flung us on a windy hill, laughed in the sun, and kissed the lovely grass.
-- Rupert Brooke

Is it July already?
Lazy summer mornings
where the kids all sleep in,
still wearing their playclothes from the day before.
Oh this is the summer of my youth too.

Dreaming of dandelions kissed
just the day before--
fresh-picked
earthy smelling
dirt is a natural consequence
of the fun.

Running down sun-beaten paths
lined with overgrown grasses from May showers,
the heat of a long June has dried to a crisp.

Let's run to the little pond
with our nets in hand
to scoop up an afternoon's delight
of tiny minnows and catch a sunfish
or dragonflies that flit across the water

The cool water bids us in a little closer
while the sandy bottom tingles our feet...
is this not the stuff of summer??

Even the animal kingdom relishes
the freedom of lazy days
and cool relief...
Kota bolts in and out of the water
answering the innate voices of her
waterdog conscience--
JUMP IN!
JUMP IN!
Lap it up, Girl!
Lap it up!

Thistles grow taller than children
in this alpine-desert
that is
The Rockies...

Another gift of summer...
the delicate thorns form a crown
around the budding majenta beauty
it's hard not to be impressed
by the regality of a Thistle.

While Kota is at the other end of the pond,
we'll dip our nets one more time...
stand still,
holding the net motionless--
didn't you know that's the way to catch a fish
these days, Mom?

Grab the biggest stick you can on days like these.
No cause for modesty
on this summer day!
If you can haul it,
it's yours forever!


The long days of summer
are the days of youth!
To be explored and absorbed
out in the sunlight
wide-eyed and eager
to soak it all up--
to get while the gettin's good!

Oh, bring again my heart's content,

Thou Spirit of the Summer-time!

-- William Allingham