It may have been the wettest July on record, at least in nearby Huntington, WV, but we still had plenty of hot and sunshiny days.
The Mimosa tree blooms are still fragrant and plentiful. The delicate white of Queen Anne’s Lace and the periwinkle blue of Chicory adorn the roadsides. Dragonflies and Swallowtails flit and feed along with what so far has been only female hummingbirds at the wild trumpet vine and Stick Verbena flowers.
The morning glories are a month behind their usual domination of the patio trellis and so far only deep purple blooms dot the green wall of heart-shaped leaves.
Most mornings at exactly 5:30, the first bird to shatter the night’s silence is a House Wren I named Fifty Cent. The bird book says they weigh about as much as two quarters, so…
For fun, I play an audio recording of a House Wren and watch with amusement as he warbles and scolds in response. He built a nest and found a mate. But from what I’ve read, this is probably just one of his multiple families.
A few of the sunflowers have bloomed, some with petals growing in the centers of the heads, but they still serve their purpose; the bees don’t seem to mind their odd appearance. One monster sunflower has reached a height just past the gutter. Its head seeks the setting sun on the opposite side of the house, even though the bloom has yet to open.
The full buck moon this month was a baby aspirin orange when it first appeared which led to a new nickname: pumpkin moon. Is it wrong to be thinking about pumpkins in July? I see patches of the brilliant orange and yellow leaves of the Staghorn Sumac nestled among a sea of green. A harbinger of Autumn, a mere seven weeks away.
But for now, today I will notice and enjoy the sultry air, the dance of the bats and lightning bugs at dusk and dawn, the fiery sunsets, bare feet on grass and in puddles, and flower heads that magically move under the weight of bumblebees and butterflies.
“Woods are filled with the music of birds, and all nature is laughing under the glorious influence of Summer.” — Charles Lanham, Author, Artist, Librarian
Well done, July. 👏🏻
