There was a certain amount of summer laziness in the stories shared around the circle at our Lughnasadh In Cycle Gather.

Not the bad kind.

The kind that comes with long days, vacations, plans that wander off course, gardens growing faster than we can keep up with them, and the general feeling that perhaps whatever needs doing can wait just a little longer.

It seemed fitting for Lughnasadh.

We gathered with corn dollies taking shape in our hands, good conversation, and singing that grew increasingly exuberant as the evening went on. Peach pie and minted watermelon made their way around. Mosquitoes were acknowledged—frequently—and bats, herons and ravens reminded us that our gatherings are rarely attended by humans alone.

And beneath it all was that first little feeling of change in the air.

Summer is nowhere near finished at Lughnasadh, but something has shifted. The days have begun their slow shortening. The land is abundant. Gardens are full. There is plenty still happening, but perhaps less urgency to make something happen ourselves.

At Ninth Wave Arts, we tend to follow that feeling.

After Lughnasadh, most of our programming grows quiet for a while. People are travelling. Summer distractions are plentiful. The mosquitoes are even more plentiful.

Rather than working against all of that, we take it as a good time to pause, rest, and leave some room around things.

MiddleWorld Mysteries continues its weekly rhythm through the summer, as it does throughout the year. There is something important in that too: a practice held within the whole of the seasonal cycle doesn't step outside it when the energy changes. Summer's fullness, distraction and languor belong to the practice just as much as the more inward seasons do.

But elsewhere at Ninth Wave Arts, we let things rest.

There will be time soon enough for preparations. Around Mabon, the energy usually begins to move again. Fall programming starts to take hold, ideas that have been quietly sitting begin asking for attention, and we find ourselves ready to gather in different ways.

For now, there is still summer.

There are late sunsets and warm evenings, fruit at its best, holidays to take, gardens to wander through, songs to sing a little too loudly, and perhaps a few things that really can wait until tomorrow.

Here's to the lazy days of summer.