June is a month of firsts. The first rose of summer arrived, even before the equinox. This time it was the Mr. Lincoln rose — the deepest, truest red you can imagine. To my amazement, despite the harsh cold of winter, all our roses survived and all but one are budded already. I am very partial to the hybrid tea rose — near perfection of shape, keeping symmetry and elegance even as it unfolds. It is always a pleasure to salute Mr. Lincoln. Also, the old white rose, more free form, arching high and draping low over the driveway, has bloomed. Its cascading branches of flowers are a spectacle, echoing the heaps of white booms on the blackberry canes out back. And the old pink rose, another more free-form shape, has cropped up again between the two fancy climbers we planted along the porch, neither of which is as vigorous as the long-ago variety.
It’s the time of the first peonies, too; pink, white, dark pink, red, heavenly scented. Since we don’t have any lotus flowers, we put a big vase of peonies behind our serene Buddha statue in the living room.
The asparagus was ready in May, but the first week of June brought that inevitable moment when we said, “Let’s NOT have asparagus for dinner tonight!” Thank heavens for freezers.
June is also the time of strawberries. We felt privileged to feed friends passing through town a lunch that included our own arugula, lettuce, asparagus, and then the first 20 strawberries for dessert. We each only got a few but sharing them felt like a ritual of abundance and gratitude, for friends and sustenance. We picked a full quart the last few evenings — stunning flavor.
June also brings blueberry cages. The fruits are forming and nearly the size that interests the birds. The blackberries and raspberries are budding, even forming some berries. While we won’t eat them for a while yet, they are signaling that our plants are planning to take care of us yet again. The world around us is offering so many colors, flavors, and promises, our first indication of bounty to come. June is a messenger month.
Sadly, June has also been a time of continued “firsts” in abuse of national power. There are too many to list, but how about a cage fight on the White House lawn — a national holiday, Flag Day, marked by a for-profit gladiator event defiling not just the White House but also the Lincoln Memorial. Who thinks up this vile stuff? Apparently the same people trying to hide the sordid Epstein scandal.
Graft schemes pile up, legal system perverted, huge funding for ICE and paramilitary forces to continue abusing immigrants, rants that are documenting a president’s breakdown and dissolution. Unfortunately, the evil supporters propping up this failed president, continue their own diabolical purposes whether dismantling government, sweeping up immigrants, debasing women and people of color, pushing oil and coal, limiting voting rights, trashing healthcare, attempting to kill scientific and medical progress. Suspend habeus corpus — one of our most fundamental rights — to hasten deportations: Why not? All their new firsts of abuse are in the shadows, but wreaking havoc.
More visibly, the Iran war is a debacle with world-damaging effects. The purported “peace” deal seems way worse than the agreement Obama’s team hammered out years ago; a trillion dollars has been wasted along with many lives, and much more to pay. Why would Iran give up charging ships for passing through the Strait of Hormuz? One way or another, the American public and people around the world will pay for this vanity war.
The “DOGE” dismantling of so many public service departments, attacks on science, slashing of healthcare cleverly hidden until after November elections, all leave us paying more, ailing more, and threatened by diseases once largely controlled. Tariffs have been especially harsh for our farmers — higher fuel costs, lost key markets, fertilizer shortages, screwworm threatening cattle, bird flu on the loose. Apparently appeasing the oil and gas industry is more important than making sure we can feed ourselves.
There’s something powerfully inevitable about the unfolding of June’s firsts in the gardens, fields and woods. But there’s nothing inevitable about the destruction of our country. Resistance is everywhere and growing. Legal successes mount. Understanding of our situation is rising. Remember that every rose has its thorns. Try to pick it carelessly, and Mr. Lincoln may bite.
Judy Wagner lives in Northfield.