"I heard a bird sing in the dark of December, a magical thing and sweet to remember: ‘We are nearer to spring than we were in September.’" - Oliver Herford, "Hope"
“Spring's wakening bugle long is hushed; long dimm'd is Summer's splendour; October yields her easel bright to black and white November!” — James Rigg, "November," Wild Flower Lyrics and Other Poems, 1897
“I'm so glad I live in a world where there are Octobers.” — Lucy Maude Montgomery, Anne of Green Gables
“Ah, September! You are the doorway to the season that awakens my soul... but I must confess that I love you only because you are a prelude to my beloved October.” ― Peggy Toney Horton
“Gratitude is happiness doubled by wonder.” — G.K. Chesterton
While many people, especially educators, enjoy this last, long month of summer, I really don’t like August. I don’t enjoy the heat, humidity, mosquitos, cicadas, not to mention the back-to-school anxiety. In fact, once August comes, I’m ready to skip right to September.
In addition to the weather and anxiety, over the past few years of curated monthly collections, I have struggled to define the colors of August. Some months seem obvious while other require a bit more creativity. I have tried “sunny hues” — yellows, reds, and oranges, yet, having just finished a patriotic July, my reds have been depleted; I used most of the yellows in April aside from the sunflowers; and since it’s my least favorite, I have very few photos that feature the color orange, most of those being reserved for October. Last year, I scrapped the color theme in August in favor of the alphabet — an image of something that begins with each of the letters followed by the numbers one through five. This year, I returned to the photo challenge that started it all, thinking that it would be fun to play along or a month. But there weren’t any prompts and it wasn’t surprising to find that I’m not alone in my lack of inspiration: “With all the lockdowns and stress going on at the moment, it makes sense to simplify. So, this month, we’ll be embracing a month of gratitude…simply post a photo each day of something you’re grateful for” (FMS Photo-a-Day Challenge).
So, here are photos of things for which I am most grateful: nature (especially the birds, bees, butterflies, and flowers in my own garden), being on the water (sailing and rowing), travel (especially to Door County and Paris), creativity (photography and writing), education (books and my time at Marquette), good food and wine and time with friends and family (especially Miss Piper). And as a bonus, the color scheme evolved naturally and reflects some of my favorite hues, rendering August perhaps my prettiest collage to date.
“Give thanks for the heavy perfume of wild roses in early July and the song of crickets on summer humid nights and the rivers that run and the stars that rise and the rain that falls and all the good things that a good God gives.” - Ann Voskamp
