I know it’s nearly the middle of July, but I feel like my summer has just begun.
Having helped the kids close out the school year, worked to pull together the pieces of one job and started a new one, and taken several work-related trips out of state, all in May-June, I didn’t have the typical ease into summer.
While I’ve been indoors filling my brain with things I need to know for this next phase, summer had been unfolding without me, or so it seemed.
But this weekend I finally had a chance to go on a walk with some of the kids. To me, a stroll around the neighborhood is one of the truest signals of summer, and it didn’t disappoint.
Who knew grapes could grow in North Dakota? Not me, until my son and I noticed them crawling along the top of a neighbor’s chain-link fence.
And the lovely hydrangea. Nothing says summer like this bounteous beauty.
It didn’t look quite right, as if the wrong kind of weather has affected its growth. And yet, there it was, a mark of this year’s summertime landscape. I’ve named this shot, “3 Shades of Leaf.”
That was from Saturday night’s walk. Then Sunday, I found myself on another. My walking partner helped lead me into Lindenwood Park, where we were both drawn by the river and surrounding vegetation, not to mention a little shade to shield us from the direct heat of midday.
Including a girl carrying her pet boa constrictor. She even let me pet it, and explained how its iridescent sheen is indicative of fresh, newly-molted skin.
True story: I thought she was from the zoo, and when I asked if she was, she said no, just a pet owner. This cute little fella had a proper name but I can’t recall now just what. Isn’t he so sweet, though? The kind of warm-fuzzy thing you want to curl up with on a lazy afternoon. (Not!!!)
Sometimes, you get lucky. Had we arrived a day later, this bridge would have been closed for the summer.
On the way back into North Dakota, I finally got the photo I’d been trying for all along. This is what makes such a jaunt worth the trouble and a little extra sweat. I call it, “Where the Red River Flows.” Or is it red fern? Either works here!
Q4U: What signals summer to you?
i love that you title your photos! I also love that you can find adventure right in your own back yard. I would say going to the lakes really signifies to me that summer is here. We spent the entire month of June at hockey camp, so July and being out in the sun makes me feel like its summer finally!
What great pics! The other evening my daughter, my husband and my daughter’s in laws were playing croquet in our backyard, while my grandson and I were watering my flower pots, I found myself thinking…what a perfect summer evening!
Beautiful summer stroll! I love the smells and sounds of summer along with the sights. Fresh cut grass, haying, birds singing and the long days. Yes we grow grapes in ND. There are even 27 wineries and grape growers!
I love all your summertime triggers! And Katie, leave it to you to know this. And what a cool fact to add to my reflections here. Thanks for bringing me up to date on North Dakota and it grape-growing capacities!
I had to click in to comment. I’ve never heard of taking your pet snake for a walk. Yikes!!! I don’t think I would have gotten that close. Now, I’m thinking of Shel Silverstein’s poem, “I’m being eaten by a boa constrictor.”
Great shots, Roxane.
Our week at Mount Carmel is a summer tradition.