I must add -- the day was interesting to me. Not to Ed, not to anyone else -- just to me. I spent it reviewing my travel future. All day long. Scheming. Counting. Re-configuring. Hoping. And finally -- deciding. My hours were filled with this. Pure happiness! It's so strange to know that what I loved doing at age 20 still brings me such pleasure at age 72. So much else has changed -- family grows, then shrinks, then grows again, career changes, evolves, and eventually ends, hobbies come and go. Gardening persists, cooking stays, reading and writing -- well yeah! But this, this planning a trip? I don't know many who would list it as an enduring love! So weird, yet so mine.
The day did begin in a much more active fashion. I was up early and announced to Ed that I want to be done with chores and head for the downtown market by 7. To make use of free parking meters. To avoid the crowds. To pick up veggies (radishes, carrots, mushrooms) and flowers. I was going for Wisconsin peaches, too, but guess what! Our peach trees in the new peach orchard are starting to produce! And their fruits are good - we sampled one today!
(our peach trees grow in my Meadow no. 2; we have three designated meadows now!)
(It's getting harder each day to find upright blooming flowers! Here's a reliable patch...)
(and another...)
(and one more...)
Shockingly, Ed said he wanted to join me for my market outing, so after my animal chores, the two of us set off. Before 7. The market was very empty then, though there was a flurry of activity at the sidelines: they were setting up for an afternoon of "Taste of Madison" -- one of my least favorite events! It's been an annual tradition to have this in Madison on Labor Day weekend. I remember taking the kids to it and making the rounds from one feeding station to the next, and by the time we were done buying $3 samples of this or that, I'd look in my purse and note that it was depleted of cash. That stuff adds up and yet you don't even feel that you've had a proper meal. So, no Taste of Madison for me, but yes to a lovely market.
(I chose one of these...)
(Ed loves pickled mushrooms...)
His perfect breakfast: those mushrooms and an apple from our old orchard.
So you could say that this day, with so much time spent researching and calculating, was for the birds. And you'd be right! In the end, it was the theme of birds that came through for me on this otherwise quiet day. Wild turkeys on the driveway, and young mourning doves on the porch glass rooftop...
... and then, in our local park (because Ed and I did rouse ourselves late in the day, and we attempted a walk in the park), I heard another song -- that of a Warbling Vireo. A first for me. I know, because the song was so different, so very enchanting in its tweets and warbles. Yes, the Warbler actually warbled!
But about that walk: we gave up on it after just a few minutes. Our park was just as buggy as the farmette. There were plenty of people who seemed to not mind. The weather, after all, was so fine, and here we were, on a long holiday weekend, wanting to wallow in the last wisps of summer. Perfect for an outdoor saunter, right? No, not for us. We'll save our park walks for later, when this wave of mosquitoes has left for good. In the meantime, we're listening to the song of the Blue-gray Gnatcatcher too! A bird with a very promising name. A bird that really likes to devour mosquitoes.
with love and one more lily for you...
