August, the Longest Month of the Year

I am probably one of the few people you will ever know of who despises the month of August. Even when I was a kid, I wasn't a fan of the month. The only good thing about August is blackberries and getting ready to go back to school. Then again I loved going to school and learning. Yeah, I know, a bit unique, but it sure beat being bored all summer. In one respect I'm not a big fan of summer. It's hot, boring, and long. Pretty fascinating that I feel that way since I live in a hot tropical climate. Really though, summer and August in particular is not my favorite time of year. But, like I said there are two things that I did like about August. Blackberries and back to school. I am a blackberry fanatic! Love them. They are so juicy and delicious. I eat them by the handfulls. When I was young and lived in New York State, I made sure to have a berry pail on me and a long sleeved shirt for picking blackberries is a dangerous and serious business; especially, for me. Finding the perfect blackberry patch is akin to Linus finding the most serene pumpkin patch. It's painstaking work. But once its found, heaven is at hand! There was one patch near the farm that my family owned. The berries were thick, plump, and huge. They were also delicious and being a child of 7 years in age, the berry picking was a process. After all one had to fill the pail and eat as many as one could without being noticed to much! I would always make sure my pail was to a certain height....well, not really, I made sure I ate the first one picked....mmmmm. Such a delight! The long sleeved shirt was necessary in order to pick these berries from the bushes they were which were not only loaded with the delicious morsels but with brambles as well. Thorny brambles that loved to grab hold of skin and rip across it. I don't even remember how many times I was scratched up from the thorns; but the fruit upon them was worth it. Once the pails were filled, back to home I would go. Mom would wash them off, put some aside for a snack and the rest for blackberry cobbler, blackberry pie, blackberries for ice cream...Yummy! I can smell that sweet, bubbly aroma now of the blackberries. I haven't had a blackberry pie in years; but I do find blackberries in grocery stores and every so often I bring some home...just to devour the juicy goodness of them. Ahh, August that's about the only thing I like about you. You don't have a holiday to enjoy, you're long with 31 days and boring beyond belief. However, there is back to school time and that is always fun! Even today, I find myself wandering around the aisles and looking at the items needed for school. The sight of watching kids gathering school supplies and getting new clothes is always a memory of the time when I and then my daughter did this venture. Many of you already know the adventure of trying to find the right things, and finding them at a great price was just a part of the hunt. A bargain was a fanctastic find and brought celebration and smiles to me! The best part of this event was the knowledge that school was right around the corner and with it came my favorite time of the year - Autumn! Soon the heat and drowsiness of summer would pass on to the cooler and fresher air time of autumn. That's right! Autumn! Indian summer disappearing into the colorful and brilliance of Autumn. A time of football (soccer in some areas), field hockey, baseball's World Series, blue jeans and sweaters! The picking of the harvest which included apples! Oh, what a wonderful and kaleidoscopic time of year! Alas, it is not autumn. It is only August. The longest month of the year to me. Long, boring, hot, steamy, and filled with the sound of cicadas calling for rain. The need to watch for tropical storms and hurricanes is present and hurricane kits have been made in order to be prepared. Yes, it's August! A month of 31 days with time to take that last plunge of summer before the cooler months prevail. Well, maybe August isn't all that bad....Yeah, it is. At least to me it is...a month of sweltering heat; yet a month of promise and memories of the year and how it has progressed to this point. August....the longest month of the year. So, in honor of August I leave off with a poem by Mary Oliver entitled appropriately: August. August By Mary Oliver When the blackberries hang swollen in the woods, in the brambles nobody owns, I spend all day among the high branches, reaching my ripped arms, thinking of nothing, cramming the black honey of summer into my mouth; all day my body accepts what it is. In the dark creeks that run by there is this thick paw of my life darting among the black bells, the leaves; there is this happy tongue.