nature – The Civilized Man

The summer weather was more severe, but life in summer continued as so many before it. Those beleaguered heirloom tomatoes did eventually come along, in September. And they were good, but fewer in number and a few weeks later.

But, this year, the garden delivered something new. The melon vines loved the hot weather and by early September I had collected six edible, lovely and delicious Charentais melons. This was quite a success and I may plant these again next year.

Penne with fresh tomatoes and Basil (from the hundreds of plants!)

Visitors

Twenty years ago when I first moved here, I would sit outside on the those peaceful summer nights and the bats would begin to appear about 7:00pm. They would begin to fly lower as the darkness came, until those little bats would often fly right in front me, just a few feet away.

And then a few years later they vanished and I have never seen them again.

Yes, it has been many years, but almost every night in the summer I very briefly look for them. So, each evening begins a little sadly when I sit to finish my dinner wine. I am always a little melancholy. I never forget them and always look up into the trees in the western sky from where I once saw them approach. I am hoping that they have returned. That thought makes me unhappy because they have not.

Something so ancient no longer appears in its natural and proper place, when and where it has existed for an incomprehensible amount of time.

But I have other visitors who come, attracted to the hundreds of zinnias that bloom in my three flower gardens. The wondrous and nearly magical little creatures visit fairly often, and I know something is still right with the world when they visit. I always stop immediately and watch them. Sometimes I can photograph them, but it is nothing to look at the photo when compared to meeting them in person. I’ve read that the oldest fossils of these magical creatures date to 50 million years ago.

Many things on this unfathomable ancient earth continue and my life has more meaning because I am part of it.