'Two in Tandem' is the brainchild of Jinksy and you'll find more responses to her prompt here.
Graphic copyright Jinksy
On Wednesday I watched the combine harvesters moving noiselessly up and down the fields, dust billowing around them. They were soundless because I saw them through the car window as we travelled back from Portsmouth.
July always seems too early for reaping when schools and churches don’t celebrate Harvest until September or October. Of course, by then the tree fruits are ripe, except for cherries, which have enjoyed their short season in June or July. Strawberries and raspberries have a longer period, though gooseberries seem as short-lived as redcurrants and blackcurrants.
But then, why is Harvest not cause for rejoicing throughout the year? Each month brings forth new delights – sweet violets in winter can thicken soup or add colour and flavour to salads of leaves or fresh fruit. I suppose Harvest is applauded at the time of year when most crops are in abundance. For me, rejoicing in Nature’s bounty is timeless, since I’m not a farmer and don’t rely on cash crops, but the sight of a wheat field, preferably with rich poppies bordering the corn, is beyond measure – a joy to be relished each year, despite the fact that the harvesters always catch me unawares.
However, when the days shorten and the nights lengthen, there is the satisfaction of sweet chestnuts and cob nuts, blackberries, wild mushrooms and sloes. There are always treasures to be garnered, if we look hard enough.