Summer

Yellow-browning drying leaves, gusts of warm breeze and buzzing bees… Summers show us the side of nature that ends a cycle, preparing the earth for a new one. The warm hues everywhere, overheated air and yellowing greens gives us some different vibes altogether. Like a glass of cool water after a sunny day, looking at a patch of green will also give our eyes and mind a much-needed break. May it be a small patch of lawn, a small garden, a single vibrant house plant or the colorful summer trees that we find every now and then on our roads. One such indigenous tree that sticks out is ‘Flame of the Forest’. One summer while traveling through the mighty Sahyadri mountain ranges, I saw a patch of red, and even through the summer heat, it was stunning! It was befitting the whole scenario. It reminded me that though summer may not be my favorite season by far, it most definitely had some peculiar, unique beauty to it!

How do we spend summers at home while isolating?

This question has been the bane of our life especially since last summer. Work at home is another thing, and then spending all our time at home later becomes something of a stretch sometimes. If there are children in your home, it becomes especially difficult to keep a balance.

In times like these, I would want to tell you to try to get your family involved in activities like home gardening. Getting to know the basics like watering, potting, repotting, soil, compost can be a fun activity which also teaches you something new. Gardening is something that needs no age limit. Giving your children some responsibilities of say, watering your plants some days of the week could be something that will help them in multiple ways as well as you. The beauty of gardening is that it has very few limitations so whether you want to garden alone or with someone, your garden can make your summer at least slightly better!

Since we are currently in the middle of the summer season, I thought it was best to talk about something related to spending summers indoors

Especially since the summer of 2020, we have been going through a lot of changes, and some of these have been getting to us without even us knowing. The complex and constant changing rules and regulations, disturbing news, odd mandatory confinement has started changing us on some level. Now that we know how we cannot be taking things for granted, I would like to share my opinion on something and I am not saying it just for nothing, I truly want you to try this.

If you don’t already have a garden, start gardening, start with a single plant. Especially in summers when the temperatures are rising and you are stuck in your home with probably odd people in there with you as your company, you need something like a plant to soothe your mind sometimes. To give you a different hobby, to help your mental calm, and to teach you to not give up ever!

So are you ready, because the best time to start something new is now!!!