Aaaaaaaahhhhhhhhh

The drought broke early this year and the Flint Hills are lush, green and oh so beautiful! The ponds and creeks have been replenished and the tall grass, as if to make up for two years of intolerable heat and drought, have robust inflorescenses... if I used that term correctly. In addition to this abundance, a large mass of Canadian air has arrived and is in no hurry to depart. Low humidity, low temperatures, no wind - perfect firefly weather. The last two nights I have slept on the porch.

At my tender age of six decades, there are not many soaring highs left in life. The peaks of excitement and pleasure have been replaced with a steady, subtle and easy appreciation of what is simply good and wonderful. Sleeping in the fresh night air next to the little creek is good. Fireflies are a natural product of Spiritcreek Farm and they are in mighty abundance. In the absence of moonlight their luminous signals silently brighten and dim in a slow rhythm that leads this old woman into a healing sleep. In that deep sleep, I find the dream where I am young again, and life stretches away into the limitless future.