Cherish the Beauty of the Season

Antonia&Kathryn500
I must confess that all summer long I have been hovering over a particular
canna lily just outside my front door hoping it would blossom before
summer’s end. Last year it did not have time to come to fruition. This
year I have not been disappointed and I take great delight in the spectacular
persimmon colored lilies that now grace the entrance to my home.

Three decades ago I was hovering over my own splendid blossom inside
my own round tummy. Inside was a precious being getting ready to emerge who was my own beloved Antonia.

Unfettered by any ground outside my front door, I took my round tummy to Acapulco, to stroll and lounge in the sun on the beaches I had come to love in my post-college days. I have always felt so comfortable in Mexico. It is the place of my soul, the culture of my heart, and Spanish the language of my joy. I have returned over and over again to nurture and restore myself, and to rekindle my faith in humanity, resting in the kindness of the Mexican people and their profound open hospitality. This was the perfect place to be pregnant, in a mother country, in the culture that honors the Divine Mother, whose walls in homes and churches and wayside stations abound with the holy mother. Candles burn to her as a daily part of life. People pray to her. Women are deified, share the holy trinity, are blessed, honored, and included. Yes, this was the place where I wanted my child to grow within me, steeped in the lilting accents heard in the marketplace, in the crashing of blue waves on white sandy beaches, in the glaring sun of the tropics, in the clean air sweeping off the Pacific Ocean into the surrounding parched hillsides. Here is where my Antonia grew.

She drew sustenance from pineapple and mango, papayas and watermelon, and coconuts slathered in lime juice and a bit of cayenne for good measure. Strawberry liquados made with fresh milk. Fish caught fresh from the sea. She grew quietly and slowly, listening to the music of the mariachis who lined the boardwalks each evening. She baked in the sun by day and moved rhythmically inside her mother’s womb as her mother joyfully danced with friends by night. We slept late and peacefully, then awoke with nothing, really, to do except to enjoy another day at the beach, another day of being with world travelers, another day of great joy and pleasure and gratitude. Such was her early journey on Earth…

What precious season do you cherish most? What beauty that will not linger? What opportunity that you must hold dearest to your heart your whole life through in deepest gratitude, knowing that you have been profoundly touched with one of life’s greatest lessons, gifts and blessings? And thusly we cherish the beauty of our seasons.

Happy Birthday, Antonia!

Love and summer blessings,
Kathryn xxoox
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This post was excerpted from the chapter “Cherish the beauty of the season” from my book Plant Whatever Brings You Joy. To read this in its entirety and many other stories, please check your local indie or Barnes and Noble bookstores, or you may purchase on Amazon. Also! Plant Whatever Brings You Joy is now on Pinterest! I invite you to follow! Thank you.

6 Responses to “Cherish the Beauty of the Season”

  1. Wow, mom! I’m in tears. What a beautiful post. You took me right back to the rhythm and heartbeat of my entrance place, one I’ve also grown to love dearly. Thank you!

    Love you,
    Antonia
    Xoxo

  2. Happy Birthday, Sweetie! Enjoy your special day. This is going to be an amazing Leo year for you! Can’t wait to see what unfolds! Love you bunches, Mom xoxo #weloveMexico

  3. What a lovely post. You and Antonia are blessed to be living such enchanted lives.

    Love,
    Kathlene

  4. Good morning, Kathlene! How sweet of you to say. We are grateful for the many blessings, and we count you among them. Love, Kathryn xoxo

  5. love expressed is love twice enjoyed….obvious is your love…very nice.

  6. Hi, Alice–lovely expression. Thank you! Kathryn xoxo

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