From Drought to Flooding

In less than a week, we went from drought conditions to over seven inches of rain. There is another half an inch in the rain gauge as I type this. Yikes! It is good to live on sand right now. We are on a hill and in sand so puddles don't last here and our well water is sweet because the sand filters our water well (pun intended).

 

As I walked between rain drops yesterday, I saw this cool looking millipede speed walking across the drive we shared.

I finally got out fishing! I have not gone since ice fishing and it was making me cranky. It felt good to catch a limit of bluegills and sunfish for Sunday dinner (there are more in the cooler). They are not big, but I'd rather eat the medium sized fish anyways. I like to release the big ones so they can propagate their big fish genes.

I was mentally preparing to have no cherries this summer (due to frost in May), but, lo and behold......there was a crop where we go to pick. They assigned us to dwarf cultivars which grow only about 7 or 8 feet tall. The orchard stakes the trees and runs cables along the rows onto which they attach the tree branches. It makes for easy picking but I missed being able to hang my bucket on a stump from a trimmed off branch. I had to run my belt through the pail handle and hang it from ME instead. Some trees had reddish berries which tasted very good, but I am partial to the darker berries and we found some of them, too, after a bit of searching. This is my favorite fruit and I have cherry pits in my mouth now as I type. We freeze them with the pits in and eat them all year long. They last just two weeks fresh in the 'fridge---best two weeks of the year!

I discovered this toad hiding next to my deck waiting for nightfall so it could come out and play. They like to hop around on our driveway eating insects at night. Help yourself and chow down.

 

 There is a red fox sitting and watching me as I watch him. He is on the grass by the edge of the woods about fifty yards away in the middle of this picture.

The deer you see are both bucks. They are in velvet now and seem so small this time of year. Next fall they will thicken up and look big with gleaming antlers and thick necks for the rut.

Our oldest son got married outdoors in the heat. We are glad it did not rain. It was a happy day. Congrats and best wishes to the happy couple.

After teaching three session about honey bees to the Calvin University CALL (Calvin Academy for Lifelong Learning) "students", we did one session all about maple syrup. It was a blast! Attendees were interested and into it and a very fun audience. All four sessions were a great experience.

Every year about this time of year we see at least one eastern box turtle. It reminds me of when our kids were young and we would all troop out to see our hard shelled visitor.

Enjoy the longest days of the year. We wait so long for summer and then it is gone in a heartbeat.