SUMMER ends now; now, barbarous in beauty, the stooks arise
Around; up above, what wind-walks! what lovely behaviour
Of silk-sack clouds! has wilder, wilful-wavier
Meal-drift moulded ever and melted across skies?

- Gerard Manly Hopkins, Hurrahing in Harvest, 1918

Here is another of Hopkins' exulting interpretations of nature, with the sprung rhythm and the appealing alliteration which are signatures to his poems. And the wonderful exuberance that marks his spirit....

We saw today the 'lovely behavior of silk-sack clouds' as a wild wind blew them willy-nilly across the bright blue sky.



Summer ends now, - the garden quietens, but in the orchard the apples will soon be ready for harvesting, and the voice of the pickers will echo over the meadow.


All up and down the valley the sunflowers bend to and fro in the wind as they reach for the sky, looking and listening for signs of autumn and the wild geese flying.

Never has wilder wilful meal-drift moulded and melted across the skies - say not that some would mistake this lovely sight for Chemtrails.......

Summer Skies

I was appalled to read an item in last week's issue of our local weekly newspaper wherein the Editor repeated and gave some validity to a tale told by a visitor to the Review Office concerning
the Chemtrail conspiracy theory. If he printed the item tongue in cheek it was difficult to discern the slight bulge.... Oh fiddlesticks, thought I.

I was even more disturbed to find two letters in this week's paper, supporting this theory. One unsigned, and the other from New Mexico.

I admit that in some there is a tendency to be gullible about the inherent 'goodness' of people, but I also see all around me the same naivety that allows people to accept that global warming is a result of our careless greedy ways; and the inherent 'evil' behind the 911 Conspiracy stories; and this latest interpretation of the HAARP Program. It is credited with being a secret missile tracking system; high altitude spraying to control minds, weather, crops; biological warfare experiments, and the reason why the sky is no longer blue and the stars no longer shine.

Well, out here in the country, the skies are sometimes the colour of the babies' blue eyes, sometimes delft, sometimes cornflower, occasionally violet or delphinium. And they range from these soft shades to the most brilliant lapis lazulis.



And all this summer Jupiter has been a glowing light in the south. In the spring Orion's Belt seemed almost close enough to buckle it around your waist. I see no sign of the stars becoming dimmer, here where there are no artificial lights to obscure their brilliance.

How sad to be so paranoid.

post script: It came to me in the night that sometimes the sky is periwinkle blue, a heavenly bowl of the softest, sweetest blue of all......

The days are shorter.
The nights are cooler.
The apples redden
and the corn is sweet.
The roses are regrouping for a final autumn show.
The sunflowers take centre stage
and the blood quickens as September relieves us of August's heavy heat.

A heart warming visit today with one of Husband's favourite nieces and her husband. A time of memories, quick exchanges of family activities over the last year whilst enjoying lunch, - remembrances of Grandparents, Aunts and Uncles, Cousins and youthful times, - lots of little quirks and happy anecdotes. Tales of travels as they enjoy the 'golden years' of retirement, before journeys are a chore, rather than a joy.



Life is good, - the days are crisp and invigorating, and the eyes search diligently for the first signs of fall's alchemy.

A magical time in the valley as nature prepares to make a glorious spectacle of herself before retiring beneath winter's white coverlet.

Champagne time......