TGIF. Tonight I am exceedingly grateful that it’s Friday. It has, once again, felt like a really long week. I’ve gotten up earlier and gone to bed late each night and by this evening, that has taken its toll. I am readying myself for an early night.
Today is the summer solstice–the longest day of the year, and so it is. It was a beautiful day today; unfortunately I spent most of it inside my building at work. Still, that’s alright. Tomorrow is likewise supposed to be lovely. Perhaps I will, after I sleep in a little bit, finally find my way down to the water–some water, any water. I don’t think I’ll have the energy to drive all the way down to the Chesapeake Bay–it’s not a 15 minute drive from home like the San Francisco Bay was when I lived in Northern California–but perhaps I can make it to Great Falls, which is a little bit closer. Great Falls is where the Potomac River “builds up speed and force as it falls over a series of steep, jagged rocks.” From the pictures the falls aren’t dramatic, as in those that have a long vertical drop, but the whitewater looks impressive and I bet it sounds impressive too. I love the sound of moving water, listening to the voices in it, hearing what they have to say.
I am grateful for the beautiful weather and for the upcoming “Super Moon,” this weekend. It’s the largest and closest the moon will be in 2013. I took several pictures of last year’s super moon from my home in Northern California. We lived high up in the hills so I was often treated to relatively unobstructed views of the sky. I’ll have to figure out a good vantage point from which to view it this year. For this night, however, I am taking myself to sleep early.
In honor of the summer solstice I once again offer the poem, The Summer Day by Mary Oliver. Among my favorite lines: “I don’t know exactly what a prayer is. I do know how to pay attention, how to fall down into the grass, how to kneel down in the grass…” It’s been a while since I fell down into the grass. Perhaps I can find some nice field or meadow in which to do that…after I find the water! Enjoy…
The Summer Day
by Mary Oliver
Who made the world?Who made the swan,and the black bear?
Who made the grasshopper?
This grasshopper,I mean-
the one who has flung herself out of the grass,
the one who is eating sugar out of my hand,
who is moving her jaws back and forth instead of up and down-
who is gazing around with her enormous and complicated eyes.
Now she lifts her pale forearms and thoroughly washes her face.
Now she snaps her wings open,and floats away.
I don’t know exactly what a prayer is.
I do know how to pay attention,how to fall down
into the grass,how to kneel down in the grass,
how to be idle and blessed,how to stroll through the fields,
which is what I have been doing all day.
Tell me,what else should I have done?
Doesn’t everything die at last,and too soon?
Tell me,what is it you plan to do
with your one wild and precious life?
