Is summer a
metaphor for life? It could be. Or at
least Farmer Tony seems to think so…
Summer is here
and once again I have been caught off guard. Sure, like any good farmer you have to
anticipate the hot weather this time of year, but maybe I just didn’t want to
see triple digits haunting my weather forecast just yet. But aside from the inevitable long days of
heat, dust and sweat that awaits us all in the “orange groves” of our lives,
there are always those things that, even if you try to plan for, you will sometimes
be caught unprepared to handle. Take for
instance that “2 a.m. mosquito” that wakes you up in the middle of the night
with that annoying high pitched “wheeeeee” sound in your ear. And it’s not so much the noise that’s the
problem, it’s the near self inflicted bloody nose you get when you try to smack
the mosquito, only to smash yourself in the face! Yeah, that will keep you awake for a
while. Or how about the “critters” that get
into the vegetable garden and take out your tomato and chili plants…roots
first? Oh, we all have special names for
those little guys don’t we? Then there
are the weeds that grow around the yard, broken sprinkler heads, yellow jackets
that decide to interrupt the outdoor barbeque fun, and then there is the “heart
stopping” first electric bill of the summer! Now, that will catch your
attention. It’s usually after that
first bill that you realize how much you really DO have in common with the
whole “green energy” movement. So up
goes the thermostat setting somewhere north of 75 degrees Fahrenheit, and down
from the attic come the box fans to put the windows to help with the heat. And so goes the summer.
But then again, there
are the pleasant surprises that happen in the summer. The “long- time, no see” good friends and
family who announce (usually via e-mail these days) that they are going to be
in your area and want to drop in for a visit! The impromptu trip to the beach, lake or
mountains, just to “get out of the heat” for a while…those tend to be rather
refreshing. And then, there are the more
“simpler” surprises that happen in the heat.
There’s the tall glass of iced tea, coffee or lemonade that someone
special brings out to you just at the right time. Ahhh…perfect.
Or my favorite; after a long day, you’re sitting outside under your
favorite tree and a nice breeze starts to rustle the leaves and branches. As the air sweeps across your face to cool
you, you say to yourself…”maybe summer isn’t so bad after all.” So, what’s the lesson here? Like life itself, we learn that even if you
aren’t always ready for summer (as I never seem to be), it’s always good to
know that life has a way of balancing out the heat with things that are simple
and good.
I’ll see you in the groves,
-Farmer Tony
