Ah, summer. Are you loving it? The very word used to make me go weak in the knees. Makes me think of checking out books in the chilled library, riding bikes until way after dusk, languishing days under the trees at the city park, cruising up and down Main Street for hours, laying out in the sun, floating away afternoons at the lake, escaping the adults to run with the cousins at family reunions, and the ultimate summer nirvana - spending a week with my sisters in the big city. Summer is magic.
Summer started off with a momentous event for our twenty-year old - he bought his first car. Out of the factory, it's a four door Ford, but the original owner had this ride fully tricked out with pipes that are so loud you can hear it coming from two counties away. This is a great thing, for Nate - it's not likely I'll be asking to borrow his car. His pleasure takes me back to the heady and free feeling of youthful summers.
I always tell myself I will do the required flower bed cleaning and preparation in earliest spring, yet June arrives and I'm still lollygagging around and my morning glories on the porch set off without me. Thank goodness for flowers that come back on their own and give the weeds a run for their money!
Every morning I walk 45 minutes or so and come back completely liquefied and aerated but refreshed and rejuvenated. This week it occurred to me to be thankful that I can walk out here all by myself in the country - no makeup, old sweats, Army t-shirt, mud boots, and a sweatband equals high fashion. Fashion statement notwithstanding, there's some new delight to see every day, and a reminder that God's mercies are new, every morning.
The morning glory vines from the seeds I tossed into a log in the woods look anemic, but the day after I'd given up hope that they'd bloom, what did I find, but blooms! Much thanks to all the rain - I'm not sure these will stand up to the July heat, but I will rejoice in them while they last!
NOT on my list of delightful things would be a snake encounter. I've talked before about my lack of love for snakes, and my chief prayer continues to be that if God doesn't remove them all from this little piece of Texas, just don't let me see any of them. Below, in order of appearance, we have the gentle progression from freakishly large worm, to grass snake, to wholly intact shedded snake skin suspended six feet high in the trees. Isn't it enough that snakes could be lurking on the ground ... must they also be in the trees???
Later, I was taking a picture of the honeysuckle on the creek bank (the smell is heavenly!) and out of the corner of my eye I saw a swish of a snaketail down in the creek. Thus the second picture: only treetop and sky :o)
Turtles, on the other hand, I can handle. Give me a turtle any day over a snake. One day I met a turtle on the creek bank but it didn't move at all, and was there still when I made my trek back around half an hour later. I was thinking it was a v e r y slow moving turtle, but the next day, it was obvious she'd been busy laying eggs.
The summer heat brings cicadas, wildberries, grass growing taller every day and beautiful skies. I hope your summer is stacking up to be a magical one, too!
Shared joy is doubled joy ... let's double the joy for both of us - what are you most grateful for today? Click below to leave your comment. I'll go first :
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