We traveled south last week for a visit with family in Kansas. Our route took us off the interstate and along two lane highways and county roads. It was relaxing and much more interesting than the speed-view when traveling at 70+ miles per hour. We stopped at small city parks and explored fields of corn and soybeans. The temperatures were still summer-like but the days are certainly shorter. The sunsets were beautiful like this one – fields of flowers and a ball of fire going down over the horizon but still giving its glow and colors to the clouds above. The field was full of dragonflies and grasshoppers, all in a feeding frenzy before fall and winter’s arrival. It was a wonderful trip — not just for the scenery but more importantly for the time spent with family.
nature
Sunset on the far shore
The day was cloudy and gray and the wind had been blowing. Twilight was approaching and yet the sun broke through the clouds for a brief five minutes. It lit up the far shore of the lake and the trees became golden, all reflected in the stillness and calm of the lake. The shadows of the treetops to the west started to darken this eastern shoreline and would eventually envelop the entire view. But for a brief period it was a magical and golden view.
A Canadian fishing trip
The sights (and sounds) from a recent Canadian fishing trip are still fresh in my mind. With good friends and family we headed north of Ignace, Ontario for a week of fishing. After one sunny day the rain moved in, but we fished, explored, got lost, found our way, fished some more, laughed, and didn’t let the continuing rain dampen our adventures. This is an area of lakes, woods, and sky. The woods are dense, the lakes are everywhere with rocks and trees coming right to the water’s edge, and the sky opens out over every lake. It is remote with towns few and far between. We took ATV trails through the woods to reach remote lakes, and with the multiple days of rain we drove through mud and water washouts. We caught walleye and pike in abundance and enjoyed our shore lunches. Eagles were everywhere, loons serenaded us, and we saw ducks that will soon be migrating south. To top off the adventures of the week, the Northern Lights made an appearance on our final night in Canada. A memorable and fun trip!
The busyness of a hummingbird
I watched in amazement at this tiny hummingbird as he flitted among the bee balm blossoms in the yard. He would work all around the edges of one flower, fly off to an adjacent flower and do the same, then to another and another. After about a minute he would land on a nearby branch and rest. And then he’d repeat the same thing all over again, sometimes moving to a blooming hosta and then back to the bee balm, or sometimes to a clump of catmint nearby, and retreating back to the bee balm. It was a treat to observe and marvel at something so very small with all this energy.
Water lilies
As we enter the last third of summer, our lakes in Minnesota and Wisconsin are starting to bloom with water lilies. Looking across the water surface you can see areas of white and yellow. We’ve seen muskrats enjoying a meal of water lilies, and deer will also wade into the water to graze on them. This water lily is not endanger of being eaten as I photographed it at the Marjorie McNeely Conservatory in Como Park. Like its “wild” relatives it was happy to open its petals to the bright sun and soak up the trailing end of summer.
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