It's been wonderful spending two days at UBC Farm installing prayer flags and chatting with friends. The weather held out for us and we were able to enjoy the warm, late summer atmosphere.
The rich, dark colors of August seduce me. I want to lose myself in the rich burgundies of the mysterious velvet sunflowers.
There is an ominous quality to these flowers. They symbolize the beauty of the site, but also the worry about whether next year we will be saying good-bye to UBC Farm.
I want to think positive. I want to imagine dozens of strings of flags at next year's markets. Prayer flags from all over the world, celebrating the bees, the sunflowers, the suntanned farm hands, and the dusky purple roht kraut.
Will we be celebrating next summer, or will it be a season of anger, protest, and defiance? I wonder, and I hope for a gentle summer.
Today the rains came. Maybe that's why the fears rose to the surface once again. With great love comes a great fear of loss.My ancestors toiled for many years planting wheat in the great dessert called "the prairies." Today we grow sunflowers in what used to be a rainforest. Will we ever get it right? Will the grain lay dormant in parched and lifeless soil? Will the sunflower seeds rot in their heads before they have matured and dried? This time of year is crucial to the harvest. It's make or break time. All across Canada we watch the skies and pray.
1 comment:
Poignant.
I love the dark sunflowers and the dark corn. Matches my mood which is shady,lacking in optimism, dreading the beginning of term and the slow advance of winter. Must find a way to be in the moment, be in the garden, be in the light.
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