July

That's an odd caption, isn't it? July. Like, what is it about this day that made me post something under the rubric of July?

This:





Black eyed susan extravaganza. It's from a rosie ride, returning from my office. By the side of the road. A not especially stellar bit of road, but one that leads me home to the farmhouse. And there you have it -- boom! A Wisconsin July.

The day was cool, but bright and beautiful and I thought a million times that it would be ever so good to be out working, in any of the farmette flower beds for example.

It was not meant to be. My to do list was too long, my work agenda -- too compelling.

But there were highlights. July highlights that I will long for, come January.

Breakfast on the porch.






...with a glance toward the superb double echinaceas...






A ride to campus. Then back again. Past one of our many stunning lakes. This one with a bird that's typically hard to pin down. But today he was obliging:





You probably can't tell that he's a blue heron. I opted for the shot with the Capitol rather than the close up. But he is that wonderful bird we meet occasionally on our river kayak trips. So, hello heron.

What else? Well, yesterday, I tentatively "redecorated" a flower bed leading up to the farmhouse door. I may place others elsewhere on the farmette property.  We'll see. (They are bronze figurines done by Ed's mom. She was, in fact, a very talented artist.)






Oh, let me not leave out a photo of the late afternoon light. It is always (in July) magnificent.






Finally, a photo from an evening trip to the secondary, but for us, very wonderful tennis court. It's always empty and quiet and you forget about  the cracks in the pavement and the somewhat slumped tennis net. What you do notice is the sweet smell of the surrounding pines and the wonderfulness of being there, chasing balls, throwing out playful insults at your opponent until you both laugh, laugh so hard that you're left wondering -- why is it that only on the tennis court, late in the evening light, do you forget about everything else that's pressing and concentrate on the laughter? July magic, that's what it is.