Celebrating the Seasons - Lammas

  In the Celtic calendar, August 1st is the beginning of Autumn...a good day to begin my posts after a month long 'staycation'! This day is also known as Lughnasadh and it is the first of two harvest festivals. Around my garden, it is a symphony of yellows and oranges.

   Here in Maine, the swamp maples have just begun to show their colors and although we are still fully engaged with summertime activities, August 1st reminds me that the wheel of the year is slowly turning and it is time to at least think about the changes to come.

  Time to start canning, time to order wood for the stove, time to begin freezing the vegetables that are ready in the garden.  It also reminds me of the old Aesop Fable of the grasshopper and the ant.  One may be inclined to while the lazy days away but there is a cost to that down the road.

"Make hay while the sun shines!"

   As a contemplative photographer, Lammas shakes us up, asking us to open our eyes to the subtle shifting of the landscape.  Will the monarchs return?  Which birds are now gone from our yards?  Where can we witness the first changes in the foliage and flowers?  For me, even the smells of the landscape change around this time.  I start sensing the wild grapes that grow by the old well and the sumac along the road even before I see them.  When I was still teaching, the sight of the golden rod made me realize it was time to start thinking about going back to school.

   Now that I am retired, seasons have a whole different focus for me.  With my photography I can embrace them in a new way.  In my next post, I will introduce you to my new photographic project that has already fanned my passion for a month and which will make celebrating the seasons even more meaningful to me.

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Footnote:

   I plan to publish my regular posts on Monday, Wednesday and Friday each week.  In between, I will publish individual images I gather along the way, Breadcrumbs as it were, like this early morning light and raindrops on the day lilies.  I will also post images from The Poetry of Place project frequently so you can follow along through the seasons at the pond.  (More about that on Monday!)  

   I want to remind folks that there is still time to register for the Star Island retreat over Labor Day.  Kim has a wonderful weekend planned and I will be doing a visual listening activity on Sunday morning.  I will also be showing you how to make your own simple field journal on Saturday when you first arrive and each person will make their own to use for the weekend.  Hope you can join us!  You can view the itinerary for the weekend at the following link...

http://www.365daysofinspiration.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/StarIslandOutline.pdf