“Live each season as it passes;
breathe the air, drink the drink, taste the fruit,
and resign yourself to the influences of each.
Be blown by the winds.
Grow green with spring, yellow and ripe with autumn.
For all Nature is doing her best each moment to make us well.
Do not resist her.”
-Henry David Thoreau
Sonnet 65:
Since brass, nor stone, nor earth, nor boundless sea,
But sad mortality o’er-sways their power,
How with this rage shall beauty hold a plea,
Whose action is no stronger than a flower?
O, how shall summer’s honey breath hold out
Against the wreckful siege of battering days,
When rocks impregnable are not so stout,
Nor gates of steel so strong, but Time decays?
O fearful meditation! where, alack,
Shall Time’s best jewel from Time’s chest lie hid?
Or what strong hand can hold his swift foot back?
Or who his spoil of beauty can forbid?
O, none, unless this miracle have might,
That in black ink my love may still shine bright.
But sad mortality o’er-sways their power,
How with this rage shall beauty hold a plea,
Whose action is no stronger than a flower?
O, how shall summer’s honey breath hold out
Against the wreckful siege of battering days,
When rocks impregnable are not so stout,
Nor gates of steel so strong, but Time decays?
O fearful meditation! where, alack,
Shall Time’s best jewel from Time’s chest lie hid?
Or what strong hand can hold his swift foot back?
Or who his spoil of beauty can forbid?
O, none, unless this miracle have might,
That in black ink my love may still shine bright.
-Shakespeare
I adore Shakespeare’s Sonnet 65, mainly because I love the thought of Time, unstoppable and ravaging, racing through the seasons with little regard to the beauty of each.
I’m blessed to live in a place that experiences each of the four seasons so distinctly and so exquisitely.
I appreciate each in turn, but it’s true that by the end of the season, I am yearning for the next.
When the first flowers sprout, I am ecstatic for growth and life, but by the time May rolls around I’m ready for heat and sun.
When it comes time, I dream of sweaters and long pants and the most beautiful season of all, autumn, with its fiery colors and chilly weather.
Eventually, I crave the first snow, downy white and fluffy.
Of course, what follows- grey and brown slush- leaves me longing for grass and flowers and green- which completes the cycle quite nicely.
Right now, I’m doing my best to enjoy summer, keeping thoughts of jackets and boots out of my mind.
It’s not as easy as it sounds, being a Fall baby leaves me constantly wishing for the cooling off.
I’ll be quick about the popsicles:
They’re cool, easy, and very refreshing.
They’re tangy and tart- not too sweet.
My favorite part about these is the fact that they’re made with nonfat Greek yogurt- it causes them to be icy on the outset, but once you take a bite, melt into creamy, tangy goodness.
Also, they take 10 minutes to put together and have 4 ingredients.
You could sub any type of berry here, just go by what looks good in your area, and taste for sweetness.
I ate two the other day, after returning home from a lovely, long and sweaty walk, while curled up on the couch reading a book.
Now that is a perfect summer afternoon.
Raspberry Yogurt Popsicles
makes 6 standard popsicles
ingredients:
1 1/2 cups raspberries, mashed
3 tablespoons honey, divided
1 cup Greek yogurt (I used non-fat)
2 tablespoons half and half or cream
directions:
Stir 1 tablespoon of the honey into the raspberries.
Check for sweetness- you may need to add more if your raspberries aren’t very sweet.
Stir the rest of the honey into the Greek yogurt along with the half and half.
Layer the two mixtures into popsicle molds and swirl with a knife, if desired.
Freeze until solid; release from the molds by running hot water over the exterior.
