Summer Morning, Father's Day Walk

I see puffy white clouds and think 'summer'. And in addition to being Father's Day, the latest date it can possibly be, it is also the first full day of Summer. (The solstice slipped in yesterday at 4:43 p.m.)

As usual, I was up before dawn, so I walked out to the street to get a better sunrise picture from a different perspective - looking toward downtown.

Last night's forecast had mentioned the possibility of morning rain, so we had already decided on an early morning Father's Day walk on the Green Valley Lake/Park trails and headed out there at 6:30 a.m. Ready. Set. Go. 6:45 a.m.

Bud, headed across the causeway. We don't even try to walk together - he walks faster and farther; I walk slower and stop to take photos.

I cut off onto the one remaining gravel path where I came upon this poor, dead, mole. If an owl killed it, why didn't it carry the mole off to eat?

Stump and thistle. I hated digging thistles out of the pasture when I was younger, but I really admire their purple flowers.

Milkweed is such an important plant for Monarch Butterflies. I was happy to see them in several locations and actually smelled their fragrance before I saw their flowers.

Elderberries are flowering, too. I like their fragrance even more than the Milkweeds.

Close up of the Elder flowers.

And looking back across the lake at the same Elderberry bush.

Timothy grass in bloom alongside wild oats.

For some reason when I see this plant, one which I associate with my youth, I have trouble remembering what Mom called it. This morning 'bull nettle' came to mind and that is what I thought it was.
A search tells me this is 'horse nettle', but if I read further, another name for it is, bull nettle. So, there.

Perfect timing, Bud's coming back across the causeway, ready to slow down for his cool down. We can walk together back to the car.

Back to where we started from.

Ready to get into the car and leave, I spotted this Kingbird. It really was a beautiful morning for a Father's Day, Welcome Summer, walk.

Walking on the Wild Side

This morning I took a walk on the wild west side of Lake McKinley. This is the newest section of  the paved pathway.

Vandals or lovers (or both) managed to leave their mark while the cement was still wet.
I wonder if AM and VP are still a couple?

If it weren't for the new homes nearby, you might think you were out in the countryside.

Looking across the lake to the old Girl Scout cabin...

...and trying to photograph the sun sparkles on the water.

The geese took to the water when a car came along. A few minutes later they were back on the road. I could barely hear one of the parents whisper/honking a warning to the youngsters that there were still dangers around. Be aware!

Walking back across the dam, the bright virescent green of the sumac flowers caught my eye.

As did the lavendar blossoms on the crown vetch. Sometimes I wonder if I am walking for exercise of if I am just taking a nature walk. I guess it is really both. I know I walk a lot faster if I don't take my camera along, but it isn't nearly as much fun.

Walking In The Neighborhood

So far this week I have just walked out the door and done a circuit of my own neighborhood. Yesterday morning it was really early, this morning it was three hours later. Wow, what a difference in the temps.

The only picture I took was of this 1929 Model A Ford Station Wagon. It was setting in a yard along Highway 34 with a For Sale sign on it. I'll bet something like this would command a pretty hefty price.

So I will share some photos of my planters.

This is one my grandson Brock made. It is weathering nicely, I think. The Portulaca seems to like it here.

And here. Mom always called these flowers Moss Rose. I see that another name for them, one I hadn't heard before, is Sun Rose. That might explain why they do so well in sunny spots.

I even put Portulaca in the old mailbox this year instead of the herbs I usually plant there. I don't know why I put it in so many pots this year. Maybe some sixth sense told me it is going to be a hot, dry, summer?

One more picture to share just because tomorrow will be great-granddaughter Lily's 8th birthday - her and little brother Maverick illustrating you don't have to have expensive toys to have fun.

Stay cool.

A Shaggy Dog Story

Sixty-one years ago today (also a Flag Day on a Sunday), I took my little brother to the picture show. He was five, I was 15. It was a show we could both enjoy:

Him because it was a funny, cute little movie about a boy who turns into an Old English Sheepdog and me because Tim Considine was in it. I had a crush on Tim from when he played Marty on the Disney TV serial Spin and Marty.
I would have said the movie was in color, not black and white, so I must be remembering the 1976 sequel, The Shaggy D.A. - a movie I most likely took my own children to see.

Another kind of drama had occurred just four days earlier:
"Leslie upset the utility cupboard on him today. Really made a mess." He was 'climbing' the shelves trying to reach something towards the top when it tipped over on him. I know Mom and I were both fearful about standing the cupboard back up - how much blood would we see? How badly was he injured?
"Didn't hurt him." I recorded in my diary. But I know it scared him.

I know Les has many memories of his childhood. He may or may not remember me taking him to see The Shaggy Dog, but I'll bet he remembers tipping over the utility cupboard! Even now, sixty-one years later. 😘

A Perfect, Rare Day In June

James Russell Lowell had it right when he penned: "And what is so rare as a day in June? Then, if ever, come perfect days."

Another perfect morning for a walk. I think this is the most roses we've seen in the twelve years we've lived here. There have been some years when there weren't any blooms.

I always love to see Catalpa trees blooming. This one is near where
I left my car at Taylor Park to walk what I think of as the hospital trail because it connects the McKinley Park trails out to the hospital - and beyond. It is possible to go all the way out to Green Valley Park/Lake.

I couldn't help but notice this committee of turkey vultures in the distance. I suspect they were looking for morsels created by the hay mower.

When I see it somewhere else, I always wonder if this is the same heron that comes to our pond. He was stalking along one of the ponds built along Hurley Creek to improve the water quality flowing into Lake McKinley.

Adams Street bridge from the north; blue water, blue skies, a perfect, rare day in June.

Walking In Graceland

Sixth day of walking each morning, I think I'm firmly in the habit. After Sunday's walk I was anticipating achey knees and hips and I had them! What surprised me though were the shin splints. But I kept going and was rewarded when the pains went away by day four.

When I was up at McKinley Park taking some pictures earlier this Spring, a guy asked me if I remembered the "big sundial" and where in the park it used to be. I told him I did not, but that there was a big sundial out at Graceland Cemetery; is it possible they moved it out there? He didn't know and I can find nothing about it online.

When I first saw a bird sitting on this statue, it was so perfectly still I began to think it was part of the stone carving. Then it flew and I recognized a Mourning Dove. Appropriate?

A different statue, Hope, a different bird, Robin.

"Hope is the thing with feathers -
That perches in the soul -
And sings the tune without the words -
And never stops - at all"
    (Emily Dickinson)

Benches near the pond offer a serene setting for some meditation. It was a lovely, quiet morning to be back at Graceland, but already I could feel the day heating up.

On the way home I was coming up on a white commercial van with Covergirl written on the back doors. It was obviously a work vehicle. Why would it be advertising Covergirl cosmetics? Or did it have some other Covergirl association. Then I got close enough to see it read Convergint (Convergint Technologies). Maybe it is time to schedule that yearly eye exam!

Garlic Scapes and Scape Salt

In a FB post this morning from one of my 'liked' pages was the mention of garlic scapes and scape salt being available via VegEmail from a small family farm in central Iowa.

First I had to Google scape to find out what it is - a smooth stem without any leaves or branches with just one flower. Basically, the stem of a garlic, onion or chive plant. But a new term for me, we just called them tops.

My mom had chives which she may have gotten a start of from her mother. I have been wanting chives for some time. Yesterday I found a place where I could dig a few to transplant.

Which I planted near the Coral Bells I moved from Mom's farm.
Such a coincidence to now have chives, complete with their scapes, and learn a new term for them at nearly the same time.




Chives are an herb usually used, in my experience,  as a flavor enhancer in salads or sprinkled on top of mashed potatoes. Just cut a few scapes, and snip them into little pieces. Even the bulbs and flowers are edible.

Making garlic scape salt requires a food processor which I don't have and probably wouldn't go to the work of making if I did have. But it sounds good and there are recipes online if you're interested.