Name That Season

Microseason No. 27, June 16-20

Do you like imaginary games?

I play a game with myself at the beginning of every walk. It goes like this:

As I step onto the trail, I imagine that I’m stepping through a doorway into a new world— the world of the current microseason. Today, that is Microseason No. 27, which lasts from June 16th to the 20th.

My mission is to find a poetic name for this tiny season based upon nature’s gifts that are hidden inside today’s walk. Taking things a step farther :) I like to pretend that these gifts have been chosen just for me. And wow! Sometimes they are quite special or strange. More about this later…

You can approach the game however you want. I like to start with a quick inventory of my senses:

What is the soundtrack for today’s hike? This morning the crickets, bumble bees and tree frogs are making an immersive surround-sound choir in my ears.

The air feels thick, and damp— it is already very warm at 9:00 AM and I know I’ll be cutting the walk a bit short today to avoid over-working my elderly dog.

The clay soil smells rich and earthy. I keep passing through invisible clouds of honey-floral sweetness given off by generous pink and green globes of Red Milkweed flowers.

And the wild blackberries! They remind me of 17th century Dutch and German paintings. This is another game I love to play— pretending like I’m walking around inside a gorgeous painting. I snap a quick photo with my phone, and I’ll enjoy adding that to my collection back at home.

A living science experiment— watching flowers change into berries.

As I find each treasure, I give it my full attention and my simple, loving gratitude. My senses are delighted and fed by this two-way giving and receiving. And it’s my hope that I am adding something beautiful in return— the beauty of kind human attention, which is love.

Angels feasted, as I did, on existence and God kept saying,
“Have more of what I made.”

St. Catherine of Sienna

As promised, let me show you one of the coolest treasures I’ve found— it was an odd little statue of a bird that someone had tucked into the crotch of a tree along the trail.

Who knows why it was placed here? The discovery was so strange and lovely. I really could not resist bringing it home, washing off the dirt, and perching it on my desk. It sits here now, keeping me company as I write this.

So this is how I play my game. Maybe you’ll try it, too? Maybe you’ll enlist the help of a walking companion to play along and name the microseasons where you live!

I’ve named this season, but the name is secret.

It belongs to me now— just like this mysterious little bird.