Figure 1 – An August Sky, Westborough, MA August 20, 2017. IPhone photograph. (c) DE Wolf 2017.

I so want to be in Idaho today. Ah well. But I am going to share the image of an August Sky as Figure 1. In the Northeast the Dogs Days are resplendent with dramatic fair weather skies.

I remember August in summer camp. Did I ever mention how much I hated summer camp? But August brought with it warm breezes and dramatic clouds. As a youth, I remember and staring up contemplatively at the August sky. Everything was calm, but there was the promise of the coming of September, which meant another school year. And each new school year was like a rebirth. A sense that lasted perhaps until Halloween, when it all became routine again.

It is strange that even in adulthood we subliminally measure time according to an academic calendar. So soon I will be talking to you about the magnificence of September light. But as we ascend to that, please take a moment to look up and, of course, to take a few images that capture your thoughts. It is not a waste of time.

“Rest is not idleness, and to lie sometimes on the grass under trees on a summer’s day, listening to the murmur of the water, or watching the clouds float across the sky, is by no means a waste of time.”

John Lubbock (1834-1913)