Summer has always been marked by festivals

I am on holiday at the moment.  Not doing anything in particular.  Just using up my annual leave.

One of the interests I have is the way rituals govern our lives - official rituals, private rituals, unconscious rituals.

Three examples:

Above:  the recent heavy summer showers have made the meadows lush with clover or Trifolium repens.  Living in the country, you cannot help being influenced by the passing seasons.  The appearance of clover flowers in late May, lasting until September, are one of the unconscious reminders that this is summer (whatever the weather indicates).

Above:  this London pub has a cider festival during July.  Summer has always been marked by festivals - food and drink festivals as the seasons change; religious festivals of the ancient past; modern music festivals etc.  The ritual nature of these festivals are so ingrained that we hardly notice their influence on us.

Above:  a comparatively modern music festival are the Promenade Concerts held at the Albert Hall.  If I lived in London I would probably go to most of them.  I will go to the Mahler concert on 7th August, and listen to Radio 3 for Grainger on 2nd August and Shumann on 19th August.