We''l start July off by turning the cute-o-meter on extreme overload.
The girls enjoyed going to our friend's farm again this summer. Life teems from every corner there.
Anna was reunited with her beloved buck bunny, Calico
They loved the pretty new roosters
And promised our friend to not chase them too much.
The farm dog may not look like much, but he keeps the foxes at bay most of the time.
Meanwhile, out on the prairie...
Clouds are the brushstrokes of nature
After finding so many mushrooms at a the Park of Doom (the girls dislike it due to the overabundance of wood ticks there in the spring), I found myself wandering there more than our usual haunt when the kiddos declined my invitation to wander the wilderness with me.
A bonus of being alone: more encounters with the natives, like this muskrat:
After sizing each other up for a spell, it gracefully swam away.
Some actual wild geese, unlike their tame city cousins who beg for human handouts:
The prairie's in full bloom now.
Bonus bug photo bomb:
The flowers on the viney Bindweed typically only last a day, so I consider it an honor to witness one open.
My silent wandering startled a fawn and myself simultaneously.
I lowered myself behind some foliage and froze. Slowly the curious babe reappeared.
It's tentative call for Mom quickly brought crashing noising right behind me:
A couple short vocal bursts and they fled the scene, leaving a reminder of the encounter in the mud.
That spontaneous happening negated my plan of returning to the vehicle before sunset.
Oh well. Time to find a good viewing spot and make the best of it.
Halfway up this large tree will do.
Was it worth stumbling through the woods in the dark afterwards? Oh yeah.
All too soon we had the dog days of July upon us. Anna made the best of it:
Rosa has a fetish for vacuuming.
I'm serious. It's a thing for her, really.
So when she volunteers to vacuum out the vehicle, I gleefully agree.
Humans are strange. Especially some of their product ideas. And the fact other humans willingly buy said ideas.
Walmart, the ultimate idea-land of But Why?
Nature's products are more enticing to me.
My new favorite friends to find: the muskrat family.
They make little snufflie whimpering sounds as they work. Tickle me charmed.
At times during my wandering I get the feeling I'm being watched by the natives as much as I'm ogling at them. This song sparrow seems to be sizing me up:
Pelted by nuts on a windless day? We know who to blame:
Peepers that size were just meant for staring.
I spy a sideways old lady face on this fungus. Do you, too?
X marks the source of the long shadows
Another neat beams of light over the horizon shot:
The shadow of a bearded man photo bombed my shadow selfie:
Ah don't let it spook you. That creaking and groaning noise is just the resident cracked tree.
Just one of my most beloved walking paths....
Back to feeling like I'm being spied on:
I see faces.... everywhere.... faces....
The next day brings a sun filled visit to the local arboretum. Here's Ella:
Anna:
And Rosa:
"Make a train cake, Mom!"
"ok"
"It looks like a race car..."
". . ."
"But, I mean, it looks delicious, though!"
I guess I'll accept that.
Besides we had something to celebrate: Rosa received her first talk slip.
After all that cake we better head to the playground and burn off all that energy.
Ella is quite the ham. Yes, I'm Captain Obvious.
Wanna piece of ham?
After depositing that ham bone back at home, I ventured to somewhere . . . calmer
A couple rebellious brown-eyed susans are more my style
The fleeting Bindweed flower
Flowers: They're like little bundles of math, science, and art exploding into being.
Something about going into a tunnel is so disorientating.
Oh wait . . .
my bad
That was upside down.
Here we go:
Let's bring in the artsy nature shots, shall we? Cue the wildflowers!
It's tree time!
How about a fungi cameo?
Here's a European import, or as some like to refer to them as: an invasive species. May I present the humble creeping bellflower; coming soon to a garden near you.
This little number is named Vervain.
Gotta love nature's knack for symmetry
This little gal is named Starry Campion. Bet she gets teased a lot.
Toadily.
Time to watch the moon rise:
Only nature could make a cold hard rock look so cool.
Remembers folks, put the phone down and notice the eye candy. The internet will be there tomorrow. Whether all this will be is up to each one of us.
Each moment is so fleeting
Some things are never missed until they're gone...
Or maybe never missed at all?
So the neighbor's cats had kittens.
And they let them outdoors.
In town.
The kiddos and I tend to become somewhat...
um... distressed
having to regularly witness two-dimensional cat carcasses on fifth avenue.
So we may have brought one of those meowing babes into our abode one rainy afternoon...
and never let him go. He didn't mind at all. He has literally never looked back.
May we present our newest member of our clan: Gold, the teenage boy cat:
Ah summer... the time of year where we get to visit the cobweb filled basement while sirens blare overhead.
Why does severe weather seem to always occur when I'm baking?
Oh well.
The tornado missed our town, the power stayed on this time; the cake baked as planned. Rosa was especially thrilled.
Oh wait! Rain makes more. . .
Mushrooms!
Time for a wander!
Made for a new batch of bugs as well. Great news for the locals.
Just. So. Cool.
Not sure what exactly happened in this one's growth, but the effect is pretty neat.
Have you even witnessed a deer having a temper tantrum? Me either, until one day...
At first she just snorted at me. I smiled and shot away with my trusty Fuji.
Then she started stamping her hooves:
She stops; her big ears hearing what I cannot:
A snorting and crashing from the woods behind me drops me to the ground. She waits for her assistance:
Reassured I am no threat, she glances my direction one last time; then jogs after her parnter.
Thus concludes our pictorial journey through June and July 2016. We had much planned for the six weeks or so left before school started back up In September; but that's another tale...
