It's A Beautiful Summer! Have You Noticed?

By G. E. Shuman

Last night my wife and I took a ride up to Websterville, to pick up our kids. It was about nine o‘clock, and they had just arrived home from a church trip to Massachusetts. As we headed down our street and up toward that town, we were both amazed by the beauty and brightness of the full summer moon. “You know,” I said, “it’s a miracle that the earth even has a moon like that. I’ve heard that a planet the size of ours shouldn’t even be able to support a moon that large.” Lorna listened, (sort of) as I spouted this vague (fact?) I had once heard about our moon. She was more interested in the enormous beauty of that big moon than by anything I was saying about it. She is a smart lady. It was a beautiful moon!
This early morning, even as I write this sentence, the summer sun that streams through my window is warming the earth, sustaining grass and gardens, trees and toads, plants, people, and everything else that lives. Birds bicker in the trees, and squirrels scamper ‘round and ‘round limbs and trunks. It’s a beautiful morning!
Weeks ago my family was at the gorgeous Maine seashore; more recently, beside a still and shimmering Vermont lake. The same blazing, warming sun shown down on lake and ocean in the day, the same bright moon at night. The same blue cloud-studded sky swirled above them both; supporting swooping birds in search of fish. Those were beautiful days!
Wonderful sights abound on any short ride through our own state and others. Bountiful corn fields, and cattle fill the hills. Scattered wildflowers flourish along roadsides. Distant, haze-covered mountains seem as silent, gray-green waves on the horizon. People, in small cities and on large farms, tend to outdoor summer duties. Lawnmowers buzz before lawn mowers who push them; balers spit bundles behind tractors which pull them.
A few dark days of rain come to cool the air and quench the dry earth. Lawns, livestock, plants and people take a break from the sun. Lightening bolts jolt as thunder rolls over the hills and down the valleys, warning all to get inside. Then the rain pours, the clouds roll slowly past, and the sun streaks through with returning warmth, and rainbows. How beautiful!
This morning, near the end of my wife’s and my daily jaunt, the form of a little boy behind a screen door said: “hello,” as we walked the sidewalk, past his home. “Hello. It’s a nice day.” was my reply, as we continued. A moment later his slightly raised voice responded from behind us: :It’s a BEAUTIFUL day!” The little boy was right. It’s a beautiful day. It’s a beautiful summer. Have you noticed?