In the summertime I feel like a thirsty person at the end of a long run, standing in front of a gushing fire hydrant, mouth open wide to receive big gulps of sparkling, cold water as fast as I can. In Minnesota summer is short, so we have to drink quickly! It’s the DELIGHTFUL season of barefoot and bike rides, corn-on-the-cob and birdsong, pink sunrises and living large outdoors. All of the time.
A friend went strawberry picking and made shortcake for our small group. Another divided his Hosta to share with me (my yard bunny thanks him 🙁 ). I got fresh vegetables at the Farmer’s Market Saturday. Today I’ll celebrate a friend’s birthday lunch outside on the lake. A baby robin, Roberto, rescued from our window well, has become like a member of our family.
Summer, you are so good.
This past week I had the added gift of getting away to a retreat home in Virginia – tucked in between the Blue Ridge Mountains and the Alleghany mountains. It is a place that has been built with love and prayer and attention to every detail.
I wanted to share some excerpts from a poem, written by our host, Anne Grizzle, in hopes that you might find your own walk with God this summer and “join in the applause”.
In the Cool of the Morning
No matter what else is happening in your world,
and even when summer afternoons are scorchers,
you can still, like Adam and Eve, sneak out
in the cool of the morning and walk with God.
Find any woods, lake, meadow, or garden spot
and wander down whatever hillside, pounded path or
thicket that calls your name that day until something
makes you cry uncle and stop to wonder — 
At each stop, declare Habakkuk’s words,
“The Lord is in his holy temple.
Let all the earth keep silence before him.”
In that silence, you might hear
a titmouse twittering, a fly
circling until it lands, or the wind,
like parents with a baby at the circus,
clapping the tree’s hands in delight.
You may join in the applause.
Where are you stopping to “cry uncle” and wonder at the work of God?
If you like this, you may also like the post What do you do When It’s April in Minnesota?
