Monday - 122nd

Well, so I'm not any more creative than I was three days ago and my French vocabulary hasn't changed either. Three free days morphed into three days of catch up alright, just the wretched type of catch up: taxes, paperwork, and grocery washing. Or some such.

But wait: did my staycation break light any fires at all? Didn't anything leisurely and fine come of it?

Yes! There was plenty to feel good about. For one thing, for three days, there was no hurry. No rush, no anxious race through chores. In fact, I mostly stopped looking at the clock. I forgot about lunch, afternoon coffees, getting up early to feed the animals. The cats and cheepers had to wait. At least the cats appeared to sleep in as well.

Then, too, I did at least some yard clean up work so that I can better enjoy the July lily show.






Hey, how do you like your lilies? Individually? With froggies in them?
















Or en masse?






I try for both of course, but still, the July garden is all about abundance. And a mesmerizing blend of color, dappled all over a canvas. Yes, to me it's as Impressionistic as a Monet painting (or, is it that Monet was made even more brilliant by his gardens in Giverny?).






There is still the unfortunate buzz of deer flies (I had thought earlier that they were horse flies) here on the farmette, but reading up on them tells me they should be fading in a week or two. And that's a good thing: there is no way to get rid of these biting pests, though some hikers swear that wearing a hat helps (the flies love to mess with your head) and, too, their range is short. You can move away from a pestering fly's territory. (And here's another tidbit: hang out with a tall person: the deer fly prefers the tallest moving object! I should, in other words, always garden with Ed.)


Breakfast. Just before noon.






In the afternoon, after most, if not all, paper work is shelved for another time, I suggest we take a walk.

There were two magnificent things about our short hike in the local county park up the road: the blooming prairie...











... and the motorbike ride there and back. The breeze was just right, the air -- filled with the essence of a good summer day. Truly sublime!

(what we saw on our ride back...)






(We could have done without the deer flies during the hike. They've surely made the rounds here, in south central Wisconsin!)


And so yes, I feel mildly regenerated. And that's a good thing, because tomorrow I'm going to Chicago.