The lovely month of May is about to leave us. I would feel even sadder than I do to see it go except that it is followed by June. June is the best, most beautiful month in all the year. As James Russell Lowell correctly put it:
And what is so rare as a day in June?
Then, if ever, come perfect days.
And Matthew Arnold describes it perfectly:
Soon will the high Midsummer pomps come on,
Soon will the musk carnations break and swell,
Soon shall we have gold-dusted snapdragon,
Sweet-William with his homely cottage smell,
And stocks in fragrant blow;
Roses that down the alleys shine afar,
And open jasmine-muffled lattices,
And groups under the garden-trees,
And the full moon, and the white evening-star.
June is a very poetic month.
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| The woodland garden, early morning. |
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| Ferns, forget-me-nots, and celandine in the woodland garden. |
The world is full of light in June. The days are the longest of the year. First light begins around 4:30 a.m. and twilight lingers until 10:00 p.m. Even the nights in June are blessed with the magical light of fireflies.
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| The beaver pond at dawn. |
June is a gardener’s dream come true. The plant world is vigorous, green, and lush. The gardens, both vegetable and flower, are thriving and still orderly and the weeds have not become oppressive yet.
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| Lily-of-the-valley. |
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| The garlic bed. |
Last week I planted potatoes, corn, and beans. We ate more asparagus. The strawberries are blooming, as are the lilacs, apple trees, and magnolias. This week I will plant cucumbers, pumpkins, and squash and I’ll set out my cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, tomato, and pepper plants.
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| The orchard. |
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| Strawberries. |
Josiah was gone all week. Monday through Thursday, he was on the senior class trip down in Virginia Beach. While they were there, they went to a rope course, which is made up of zip lines and obstacle courses. They went kayaking on the ocean. They went indoor skydiving. And they got to play on the beach. Josiah had a great time. Friday he was at the senior class picnic at Letchworth State Park in New York State.
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| The Senior Class Trip. |
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| Josiah and his friends at the beach. |
Here is a video of Josiah indoor skydiving.
Wednesday Stacey and I celebrated our anniversary. We’ve been married for 32 short years.
Thursday evening we were headed over to do some back porch visiting with the Shillgs and on our way through the orchard, Stacey noticed a swarm of bees hanging on a branch of the big Northern Spy apple tree. We hurried and prepared some hive boxes that I had stored on our back porch. Then Kurt and I knocked the bees into the boxes. Of the four people there, I was the only one to get stung, and I got it twice! – once on the neck and once on my left arm. The bees seem to hate me. I swelled up a little, but not bad like last year. I don’t know if the swarm was from my own hive or not. I couldn’t tell how good a job we did in capturing them because it was dark. I checked them the next morning and they were still there. After school Josiah moved the whole hive to its permanent location out by the hazel hedge next to the other hive.
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| The swarm. |
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| Kurt helping me knock them into a hive box. |
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| Josiah moving them out in the back of the orchard. |
Saturday it was warm, even hot, in the 80's and sunny. We worked outside all day, mowing, trimming, watering. Josiah borrowed the Shillig’s power washer and washed the winter grime off of outside of the house. Later in the day it rained – a warm drenching rain. It was wonderful. In the night there was lightning, but no thunder or rain – some storm far away showing off. I love this late spring weather.
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| Josiah washing the house. |
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| Spring morning. |
Tomorrow is Memorial Day. Last week, in preparation for the day, Stacey, Kurt, Julie, and I put flags on the graves in the Raymond Corners Cemetery. Stacey has to work, so tomorrow I’ll go to Ulysses and watch Josiah march in the parade with the high school band. After that, I think I’ll go visit some graves. It’s been a while since I last went out to White’s Corners where my Stevens, Stone, and Gill ancestors are buried. Sylvester K. Stevens, my great-great-grandfather, fought in the Civil War. And it’s a beautiful drive on the back roads to get there. Because Stacey and Josiah will be gone all day tomorrow, we had our Memorial Day cookout yesterday.
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| Flags in Raymond Cemetery. |
We’re pretty much done with school now. My last scheduled day was Friday. This week there is just Tuesday and a half day on Wednesday and I don’t usually get called in on the last days. Josiah has to go in on Tuesday for a graduation rehearsal. Graduation is on Friday. Despite the calendar insistence that summer starts on June 21st, it feels like it is here already.
