Old Order Mennonite Memoirs

Dear July,

Thank you for the gifts of beauty in summer. There is no secret that your days were simply summer. Your 31 days went over 80 degrees and over half of them went over 90 degrees. Your hot sun seemed to scorch our world, especially on the dry days. But you did give us an inch more of that precious moisture than June did. Even as we dragged hoses to water in the hot dryness, your golden days spilled on us with treasures galore.

Unbelievably, my freezer is defrosted and organized, filled to capacity with more than our share of peas, beans, corn and more. Uncounted heads of lettuce and ca...