The Hottest Time of the Year
One more month of Summer remains! I must admit that Summer is my least favourite season. I have dreaded its approach my entire life, although this was mitigated when I was in school by the freedom of the vacation. The heat has always been my bane, whether humid and sticky or dry and merciless. But I would be lying if I said there were no compensations.
Although every bride cannot be a June bride, I have been to three weddings this Summer. A favourite time for nuptials, I have to admit that I enjoy them immensely. In the depths of the heat, they are a fervent reminder that life goes on, and that there remains a future, something I need ever more reassurance of the older I get. The ritual coming together of two different clans, the promise of a new generation for both, the sacramental binding together of the couple into one flesh, it is at once an affirmation of past, present, and future.
I have been to two funerals this Summer as well. The solemn rites of the Requiem are also reminders of past, present, and future, albeit in a more purely spiritual sense. With a wedding, there is an ending of bachelorhood and maidenhood, and of youth. So it is with this life of ours, which we spend trying to make our way with our souls intact along a path filled with sin and shadows, and occasional flashes of light from here or beyond.
To be sure, there are other joys to be wrenched from Summer’s grasp. As The Wild Mountain Thyme reminds us, it is a good time to visit the outdoors. The bonfires of St John’s Eve are a joy whenever they can be found, and at their best when solemnly blessed. A few days later, Americans shoot off fireworks for what was called the Glorious Fourth, which even now lights up the night sky. There are parades and speeches, of course, and barbecues galore. Indeed, these, together with salads, chilled white wine, and beer, are Summer’s chief culinary claims. Needless to say, resorts in the mountains, by the lakes, and along the seashore are filled with refugees from heat-stricken cities.
