August is the slowest month, compared to the rest. January to August races past you in a flurry of impatience, frustration, and aggressive growth.
You need to focus on the tiny things right in front of you until August. It’s the only way to ground yourself in the moment and not to get lost in what you hope the fruit of your labor will be like. August is when you finally are obligated to take that step back and look at the whole forest.
It’s the season of canning and pickling. It’s the month you start throwing tomatoes in the freezer for winter stews. The forest and the garden are as alive as they are going to get in August.
This is the moment to breathe in that temporary expression of vitality. The vitality is always there, but in January it is heavily concentrated and below ground.
In August that vitality shows up as pollen on your shirt pockets, bug bites on your legs, and the flitting flash of the red cardinals’ wings. We should all get the summer off every year.
