It’s August and the long days of summer are turning shorter. The annual cicadas chorus has started and their courtship buzzing can be around 60-75 decibels with the hot weather making them more active and louder.
They are actually loud enough many nights to drown out the traffic on Shelburne Road—this is a huge relief to our life on the sleeping porch which is amongst the trees and exposed to all the city acoustic activity.
We have three kinds of cicadas common to Vermont. The Neotibicen canicularis (aka Dog-day cicada), Neotibicen linnei aka Linne’s cicada), and the Neotibicen tibcen tibicen (aka Swamp or Morning cicada. None of which are as colorful as the cricket I found in my underwear the other day or as wiggly as the House centipede (Scutigera coleoptrata) I found in the kitchen the other night. Squeamish or not, the centipede got a new home outside, very quickly.
This has been a full summer of activity on so many levels, but natural world intrigues often more than the human manufactured one. We had a Silver Maple tree taken down back in November and so are learning to live with a yard full of sun. Our southern exposure is now a completely different environment for the other trees and plants, for the flowers and veges, and for us. The house entry is no longer shaded. The tomato plants and beans are in love with the sun. And I have strange colorful plants sprouting where I planted grass seed.
Yesterday the sun set in mid-air. Yes, the red-ball of fire, set way above the horizon. It slowly grew its normal diminishing self, from round to partial, to lentil, as it disappeared into a scrim of sky.
So now August, the month I associate with my mother’s annual birthday parties. These were a family affair where many other Leo birthday guests were included. No one was excused—whether you wanted to eat fried chicken and potato salad or not, cake and ice scream or not... you were expected to be there just like for any other Thanksgiving or Christmas gathering. But this year, August includes a family reunion for a wedding celebration. Happy thought!
As for the Gallery, GreenTARA is celebrating the return of Mary McGinniss and The Selkies for music this coming Saturday, the ongoing Shamanic Journeying Workshops, and other activities in the fall. Please see the calendar postings.
Other notes:
The North Hero Historic Society has been busy with a variety of activities from a Historic House Tour (which successfully fundraised dollars for the new fire station) to events at the Community Hall highlighting the wonderful history of North Hero that we are all part of and benefit from.
As contributor to 05401 Live, I will be doing a CCTV interview with Barbara Zucker on her book “The Second Oldest Profession: THE WET NURSE, REVERED AND REVILED” this week. You’ll be able to find it from their website. https://www.cctv.org/index
And we are still thinking of hosting a Lantern-making workshop, maybe sometime in the fall, in preparation for Great Ice 2027 and the Lantern Parade.
Enjoy the wild and wonderful around you, whatever kind it is! The mysteries of life surround us and are what keep us breathing in the sky.