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A Solstice Meadow

© Barbara Hall

Last year, I wrote of the Summer Solstice and the wonders of St. John's wort . This year, the Summer Solstice was rather 'worked through' (being at 3:47 EDT on the 21st), and although I did sit outside for awhile yesterday evening watching the last of the sunlight of the longest day of the year, I can't say I made much note of it. Some years are just like that.

I was at a loss as to what to write, and was about to embark on an article about chipmunks (which I may do yet). THEY certainly were causing me to make note by scaling my beautiful black hollyhocks, pulling the buds off and throwing them around the garden in pure chipmunk hysterics.

But at the end of today, having come back from my yearly vodka run (Boy, do those folks at the liquor store wonder what's up with this small woman who periodically shows up and buys an entire CASE of the BIG bottles of the HUNDRED PROOF vodka.....)I parked my spiffmobile but didn't walk towards the house. For some reason I walked the other way. I went up to the pond, I suppose to look for the otter that we saw last year. I watched a water snake swim by, watched the barn swallows diving and touching the surface of the water in their never-ending quest for bugs.

Still I walked farther away from the house, picking my way through the copious goose-droppings and molted feathers (I LOVE this time of year around the pond) and up the road to the pastures. How I love the pastures and meadows, the grasses and wildflowers who arrange themselves purely out of love for each other. I took some photographs, but I know I just can't capture the sweet, gentle MOVEMENT of the grasses with my still camera. The seedheads of the grasses were just sparkling silver all back-lit by the late sun.

And there, in a place where I'd never seen it before, among all the OTHER yellow flowers, were stands of St. John's wort all twinkly-yellow and untouched by the dreaded St.J's beetle. Being perpetually armed with my trusty pruning shears (Hey. You never know when there'll be a pruning emergency) I cut the 'flowering tops'- a nice hefty bundle. I left the side-shoots that hadn't yet budded and knew I'd be back later.

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