Appreciating stillness

Even though summer doesn't end for another month -- the autumnal equinox falls on September 22 this year -- there is a wide-spread feeling that the coming Labor Day Weekend marks the end of the season. For one thing, school begins. And even if you don't have school in your life you may experience the effects of it in back-to-school shopping or new driving patterns with school buses on the road. Your local parks, beaches, lakes or boardwalks may be closing up shop in the next week or so.

Still...and I use that word most intentionally here...still, we have some of summer's sweetest days ahead. And one of my favorite ways to enjoy this time of the year is by sitting still.

In the quiet still evening, you can catch fireflies. On a sunny afternoon, if you are quiet, you can hear crickets in the grass. Sitting by the shore, you can watch the birds as they soar and swoop and continue to teach their young -- those born in the spring who are now adult-looking but still in their adolescence -- to find food, and eat on their own, to fly to protected spots for shelter.

For me, stillness is a most pleasant meditation. Just sitting. Still. Breathing and listening and breathing and appreciating and breathing and just ... sitting ... still. As the days and nights here come closer and closer to equal, to balance, to the fall equinox and beyond, sitting still and appreciating the last, forgotten, almost hidden, month of summer is a treasure to cherish.

May you find hidden treasures this week.