Yesterday was one of those rare August days 
when you get to welcome the cool 
and clouds of an overcast haze. 

Instead of the triple digit heat index 
that has vexed us for the past three weeks or so, 
the passing front left just a touch of rain
and a nearly full day of pleasant temperature
and gentle breeze.

We took our ease beneath the maple tree for an hour,
sipping coffee and studying the flowers 
that Randa has set on the north side of the house:
small, brilliantly colored impatiens that rim the low stone,
a dense carpet of ajuga at one corner,
and huge-leaved hostas that rise waist high
and spread out in lush growth in the shade.

The hydrangea pink diamond tree
is blooming for the second time this season 
and we aren’t sure of the reason
but are pleased enough to just watch
the black-and-yellow frames
of wide-winged swallowtails work the large clusters.

It’s good from time to time
to keep the mind from ruining a thing
by trying too hard to explain it.

It seems better on a day such as this
to simply embrace the faintest touch of mist
that lightly kisses your face
after you have rested a bit
and then go on about the work that you can do
with greater energy and longer effort

because this is one of those rare August days 
when you get to welcome the cool 
and clouds of an overcast haze,
and be thankful for health and strength
on this good day that the Lord has made.


H. Arnett
8/9/2022