Heatwave at L's bend

Summer - and L's bend - are still at their lushest and greenest. The magnolia has begun its lesser, more subdued second flowering, and some unexpected poppies have been blooming, while my neighbour's jasmine, tumbling over the fence, wafts its heavy scent at me whenever I pass, even as it begins to wane. Shrubs are no respecters of boundaries, but who could ever complain about a jasmine incursion? Summer, for me, is also a time for feasting on the sweetness of cheap strawberries and cherries, juicy peaches and nectarines, before they begin to give way to more autumnal fruits.

And with the usual unostentatious quietness of each month's turning, two weeks ago June seeped into July; the month of the Sacred Heart into the month dedicated to the Precious Blood. I only learned of this dedication recently, but when I did, it felt quite right: when the Heart of Jesus was pierced on the Cross, blood and water flowed out; so yes, the month of the Precious Blood should flow from the Sacred Heart. 

It's already more than three weeks since midsummer; we will soon begin to notice the earlier sunsets, even though summer is far from over. And at some point - maybe last week? earlier? I can't pinpoint it - gloriously warm weather seeped into a full-on heatwave, and - green and leafy though it be - there have been days when L's bend has also felt stiflingly hot. In a couple of days we're due to have blistering, record-breaking temperatures, exacerbated by being in buildings built to withstand the cold. And there's no air conditioning in L's bend, except in my car! Ideally, all this would break with a storm, and hot, dusty rain eventually bringing reviving coolness; but we've just had a dry St Swithin's day, so who knows...?

Yes, there's a loveliness to summer, to its greenness and full-blown flourishing, its languor and hint of holidays, even before they begin... but there's also a scariness to our regular heatwaves and their increasing intensity. And our current political processes don't offer much respite. But this morning at work, we began our team meeting sharing snippets of hope found recently - and indeed there was much, in our work and personal lives, in Church and wider society, to bring us all hope. Reasons to hope are always there, if we have eyes and hearts to see and name them.