Weeds

 This weed.

You can smell it from around a corner.

copious blooms, and smeels SO sweet, you just want to roll in it!

This weed.

Makes my bike commute SO wonderful.

In the early morning,
but especially in the later afternoon when the sun has been on it.

Mmmmmmmm!

I am trying to find out what it is.

I want to be able to name it when I sing its accolades.

not the greatest fotos.

I guess weeds don't much like to have their picture taken.

I tried from several angles, close up and far away.

But that smell...Oh MY!

Meet the Gieseys

Here is Mikes family sans Aidan & Liam the sons of Michelle, the eldest sibling.

The photo was taken near the end of the evening of the celebration for

Nancy's 80th birthday.

My Family

 After a day at the beach,

here we are on our way out to dinner at Mia's,

a lovely little restaurant in Saco, Maine.

We were joined by our friends, Costa and his parents,

Andrea & Joe. It was a lovely evening!

tiny hurdy gurdy concert

Light

"From within or from behind, a light shines through us upon things, and makes us aware that we are nothing, but that light is all."

Ralph Waldo Emerson

Reflections of light from a beach in Maine.

Hadlyme, CT

 Butterflies and flowers in the Gieseys yard

 Lilies and frogs in the pond at Gillette Castle State Park

More butterflies and flowers in the yard.

Castle

 One way to get to Mikes parents house is to take a ferry across the Connecticut River and wind up this road near Gillette Castle to their house.

Here is the view of the Castle from the Ferry.

The Ferry crossing is currently in jeopardy as the State is trying to cut spending whereever they can. So we took the ferry a few times during this trip hoping that it won't be the end of it. It is very charming in this area. There is also an old steam train that runs along the River and you can book passage and have dinner and entertainment on your ride.

Columbines of many colors

Here is a good sampling of the several varieties of columbine I have blooming around the yard. I have a few more, but missed getting shots of them while they were open, now they have gone to seed. I cut the seed heads off and scattered them around in the woods and down the driveway, hoping they will grow wild!

Poppies and Echinacea

 I have one plant of white poppies and they opened now

while all the other colors are losing their petals.

 And here is this exotic green echinacea that I got from

 a lady in Troy who was giving up her flower gardens.

It does get tiny little yellow ruffles around the bulb, but that is it for color.

*NEW SONG* Mumford & Sons - Below My Feet (Live)

WoooHooo! Love these guys!

"should"

 Is "should" a regular part of your vocabulary?

 I think it hides from us what we really want.

In many ways it’s more insidious than being actively nasty, because of that constant distraction. It makes us subservient to our thoughts.

 Pay attention

Language is enormously powerful. Pay attention to your words and thoughts. Notice each time you use should. When you first stop using the s-word, it can feel as if your thoughts are half-formed. This is a good thing, you’re growing!

Start substituting other words and phrases.

Can you say “I want”? If not, is it “I must”? How about “I choose to”? Can you see how each of these changes the concept and focus of your thought? And if these don’t fit, you gotta practice saying no!

This is snippets of a reading I found and thought it profound!

Thought I would share.

I have been being mindful of language lately an particularly "should", it is funny how when we are being deliberate and changing our approach, how things "coincidentally" fall into our paths.

Summer Blooms

 The Beauty Bush against the pre-thunder ominous sky.

 Bumble Bee on the lupine in the garden.

 Our life is an apprenticeship to the truth that around every circle another can be drawn;

that there is no end in nature, but every end is a  beginning; 

that there is always another dawn risen on the mid-noon, and under every deep a lower deep opens. 

Emerson, Essays, First and Second Stories

 Blooms in the hanging pots.

Matisyahu - One Day

Visitors

 We had some visitors on the fourth! Annie, Steve and two of the boys rolled into our 'hood with their tent trailer and canoe and were ready for some Lake time and some festivities.

 Mom rolled in shortly after they did. We all packed up and headed to the Rod and Gun Club and played in the water. Then we freshened up and mosied into town for some dinner and entertainment. If you see Annie, ask her about the "Dancing Bear"! hee hee!

Here are the boys posing with some local color!

Mind you, Ben is over 6 feet tall!

O say can you see....

 BAM!

 The Bombs bursting in air.

The Troy Old Fashioned 4th of July Celebration!

Dawn

"The dawn, is a time of possibility and promise. All the elements of nature: stones, fields, rivers and animals are suddenly there anew in the fresh dawn light. Just as darkness brings rest and release, so the dawn brings awakening and renewal. In our mediocrity and distraction, we forget that we are privileged to live in a wondrous universe. Each day the dawn unveils the mystery of this universe. Dawn is the ultimate surprise: it awakens us to the immense 'thereness' of nature."

 "the urbanization of modern life has succeeded in exiling us from this fecund kinship with mother earth. We need to remain in rhythm with our inner clay voice and longing. Yet this voice is no longer audible in the modern world."

John O'Donohue

Once again, I am inspired by John O'Donohue per a blog a watch.

So inspired that I had my camera out early again. I wanted to take some "dawn" fotos from my bike on my daily commute, but I was up late last night with a neighbor laughing and sharing and starting the long holiday weekend early, and decided to luxuriously languish in bed this morning. (My other motive is that I am leaving work early and I wanted to get home quicker than my bike allows, to enjoy the sun and hang laundry and putter restoratively about the property. Perhaps even fill my pool!)

I want to experience some of that " ♪ Summertime and the livin' is easy ♫" attitude!

It all starts at dawn.