After the wildflower-sweetness of June and the carefree, water-splashed days of July, August is a hot mess—summer’s last chapter that tends to slip between our fingers like saltwater. It is the time of year when the star Sirius ushers in sticky, humid days and Perseid meteor showers give us up to 100 chances an hour to make a good wish. Whether we indulge in a few more weekend getaways at the lake or simply enjoy sitting on a porch swing at sunset, August invites us to set aside home improvement tasks and back-to-school lists to notice the good things in life.

We do not need to have an epic love affair or experience the nightlife of exotic locations to say that we have had a great summer. Sweet cherries, luscious blackberries, jewel-toned plums and big-as-your-fist peaches fill farmers markets, begging us to get out that forgotten family recipe for deep dish cobbler or overfilled turnovers. Blueberry picking with someone we love, going for an ice cream cone after supper or getting to the flea market earlier than usual are all noble, joy-inspired excursions. As crickets sing in the fields and gardens give us more tomatoes and zucchinis than we had anticipated, August offers us a chance to be generous with our surplus, caramelize nectarines with brown sugar, look for constellations and inhale deeply the ozone of a sudden afternoon thunderstorm.

“August rain: the best of the summer gone, and the new fall not yet born. The odd uneven time,” wrote Sylvia Plath, a poet who distilled the truth of late summer and life. Pausing to acknowledge this month’s inevitable bittersweetness can also be an unexpected blessing. Dancing in the present moment while knowing that summer’s lovely song will end is part of living life to the fullest. Reminding ourselves that the season’s contentment is transient enables us to fully taste its final nectarous hours, inspiring the poet in each of us.

Marlaina Donato is the author of several books, as well as a painter, composer and recording artist. Connect at WildflowersAndWoodSmoke.com.

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