August

"Fairest of the months,
Ripe summer's queen
The hey-day of the year
With robes that gleam with sunny sheen
Sweet August doth appear."
R. Combe Miller

In the Book of Hours August scene, the rich people are hawking on horseback; the poor people are skinny-dipping and working the fields near the Duc du Berry's Chateau d'Etampes. Even in this tiny picture you can see it was once a massive complex, but today only the castle keep remains. A keep is a tower that was used as a last resort refuge when the castle fell to an enemy.

Chateau d'Etampes today

This morning I'm looking at my new Book of Hours reproductions and thinking how nice the full-size pictures are compared to squinting at miniatures downloaded from the Internet. The book also has scholarly annotations for each painting, and points out every tiny detail like the maiden's gray frock trimmed with white, the little dogs and the falconer holding two birds in his left fist. Oh yes, and the naked woman on the bank of the stream. Bet you missed that one, too.


August will go by in a flash with two birthdays to celebrate, an Oregon wedding and a revolving door of house-guests. After a summer that just didn't want to get started, the first week of August is looking warm and nice in Seattle.