Some here, Some there, Summer

The new season is in swing. The peony have passed, so, too, the ranunculus. Mother's day and memorial day have happened. Now men can officially wear white pants. We wish they wouldn't.

The longest day of the year, too, is in the rear view. In December, a day’s loss of a minute can feel absolutely dire. At this time of year, the shortening is seconds, a slight shaving from Spring’s ascension, the gentle softening into curve.

Summer is the season to be unrushed and summer is the season small blooms. Electric in color, so bright as to be metallic, They are like bathing suits. And yes, these are the days, on the days that you can, to spend all day in a bathing suit.

There will be candy-colored snap dragons, cumulous clouds of hydrangea, the big, smelly lilies that overwhelm and absolutely own a room, but the true pleasures of these days are found with observation, out in the field, amongst the over-growing life.

This is what I love of about Lily and her farm, Vanishing Point. That Lily doesn’t grow lilies. What she does grow, for those who know, is truly special. Emily Thompson knows. I learned how to buy studying her. She’d see something she loves and just buy it all. While there are times I've wished Emily hadn’t, less often are the times I wished I hadn’t. It is a wonderful feeling to run with it, not temper one's enthusiasm with math. It’s beautiful. I love it. I’ll take it all. I'll figure it out.

Like most summer blooms, the flowers from Vanishing Point, are not movie stars. They are not names on the marquee. Their worth is not found in fulfilling blockbuster expectations. Instead they are little moments, incandescent and innocent-- like teaching my daughter how to pull the thread from a honeysuckle flower and savor the single drop.

The pink tiger lilies I so love came in yesterday from Debra at Bear Creek. They are not actually tiger lilies, a point Debra just texted now to make clear. But that is what I’ve been calling them and whatever they are called, they are just so fabulous and fun, as undeniable as the sun.

On cue, the season’s first good thunderstorm arrived with them. It blew away the heat and billowed the curtains. The windows had to be shut, the clothes brought in off the line. Everything else could wait. Summer. There are many long days left to enjoy.

- Taylor

*Images from our spring visit to Vanishing Point, Lily, and her impractical primrose.