heading

The wildflowers of spring are turning into berries. Green apples becoming noticeable on trees along roadsides. Black raspberries ready for tasting on the crossroads. Piles of firewood appearing in driveways, ready for stacking. Turning away from summer and heading for fall.

Away for awhile.

bee balm

Some wildflowers have horrible names: cow vetch, bastard toadflax; sheesh! Only someone like Shawn would give beautiful wildflowers such ugly names. Many of them, however, have beautiful and appropriate names, none more compelling than Queen Anne's Lace which is blooming now. I found this one walking the crossroads this morning>

Milkweed is also starting to bloom.

I found this one right next to the Queen Anne's Lace.

I recently became aware of another wildflower when asked to identity one by my daughter-in-law, Ellen. I was aware of the wildflower as bergamot, but it has another felicitous name, bee balm. What a great name! It grows in the wild in the northeast this time of year, but cultivated varieties can also be observed, like these from Allyn's garden.

away

Away for awhile.

ready for stacking

I remember a few years ago, I was talking to my neighbor Pete about a recent night of star gazing. He said he had seen the great square of Pegasus during his viewing. I said, "What!!" Pete laughed. We both knew that such a sighting meant that even in the midst of summer, fall was not too far away as that constellation is more of an autumn constellation.
It is still the midst of summer, but there are signs that autumn is not too far away. The temperature this morning is 45 degrees. The windows that were open just a few days ago are closed. The light green of spring leaves has been replaced by the darker leaves of mid-summer. Silage trucks on the roads; spilling some of their harvest like little green snowflakes. Piles of firewood are appearing in driveways and back yards, ready for stacking.

canada anenome

cow vetch

photo

Friday was a sunny day and evening. We capped it off with a visit to the Tinmouth Snack Bar with friends followed by a live concert at the Old Tinmouth Firehouse. For the most part it has been sunny recently, and farmers have been busy cutting and baling hay. There were some beautiful potential photos to be had as we headed to the Snack Bar. Idyllic pictures of rural life that have disappeared from many parts of our country, but we were late, and I had to pass them by.
The days are long, however, at this time of year. It was still light when we left the concert, and I was still hopeful I could get a shot on the way home. This is what I got.

it's hot

Temperature near 90 yesterday. Doors and windows open in the house. Ice coffee, popsicles, flip flops, and my all time favorite summertime observation, clumps of salt in the salt shaker.

nature

The nature of mind, when understood, no human words can compass or disclose.
Bodhidharma

arrivals

When you stop to think about it, it really is amazing how many different wildflowers there are in Vermont. There are at least a couple of hundred varieties.

white campion

yellow flag

herb robert

black-eyed susan

What is equally amazing is that many of them grow in exactly the same places but at different times of the year. Call me crazy, but the best analogy I've been able to think of is an arrival gate at a busy airport. When people are waiting to board a plane, the area is crowded. Then the plane leaves and it's empty. After a time another plane comes in and it's crowded again except it's different people. That's kind of how it works during wildflower season.

zenith

It's hard to say when summer hits its zenith here in the Green Mountain state. Last night we went to the VSO Independence Day concert at Mountain Top in Chittenden. Food, family, fireworks, and great music. This might have been it.