First Days of Summer

We've had a beautiful week 

for the first days of summer. 

Remember those magical days 

as a child, 

knowing the whole summer stretched out ahead,

with all the wonderful possibilities?

Watermelons, cook-outs, swimming, games of softball, tag, and  hide and seek.
Catching fireflies, fishing, building forts, picnics, running to catch the ice cream truck.
Popsicles, peaches, riding bikes or walking to the corner store to buy penny candy.
Spending all day at the beach, sand castles, bare feet, picking berries and flowers to take home.

I would take my little sketch pad 

and walk down the forest trail from my home, 

to the field at the edge of Syzinski's farm,

my faithful dog, Mittens, by my side. 

Sketch of Band-Tailed Pigeon

I would stay for hours, sketching, picking wildflowers, 

and eating the picnic lunch my Mother would pack. 

Just me and my dog. 

Wild Daisies and Columbia Lilies in Western WA

 I was always a nature child,
exploring the fields and woods around my home in rural Massachusetts.

My favorite flowers back then were the regal, spotted Tiger Lilies 

that seemed to grow everywhere. 

And here, I have found some wild lilies growing

3000 miles from my childhood home, 

a lovely surprise on a summer day. 

I still love to explore the fields and woods around my home.

Here is a plant you would never want to pick.

Aptly named 'Devil's Club', the stems are covered in vicious thorns.

This woodland plant is medicinal and grows in thick colonies

 along the side of the sloping hill below my house.

Another medicinal plant that grows wild here

is Foxglove (Digitalis). 

They love to colonize disturbed ground and can be found growing 

in abundance on old logging sites. 

Don't let its fairy-like bells fool you, though, 

these beauties are deadly poison. 

This tall woodland flower with spotted throats is called False Nettle. 

These are growing in a little wooded glen beside my driveway. 

Every summer when I walk to the gate to get my morning paper, 

I visit these dainty flowers on my way. 

This is their hidden home on a little mound by an ancient snag. 

Growing nearby are the tiny white and sometimes pink flowers of Siberian Lettuce, 

a relative of Miner's Lettuce and an important food source to early settlers, mostly loggers and miners.

I live in a former coal mining town that is no longer here.

We have found remnants of its history on our exploring expeditions.

An old iron and Purex bottle were found at the site of an old foundation.

Perfume bottles and cold cream jars were also found.
The jar with the cover was a gift from my sweet Sister-in-Law from New Hampshire
who found it on a similar exploration.

I love to think of the women who used these at the turn of the century.
There was once a hotel and several cottages
by the creek.
We found a rose blooming, a plum tree,
 and comfrey plants growing
nearby.

Strange findings in the middle of the forest.

My youngest son found this coal cart wheel along the banks of the creek,
at the base of our little mountain.

It now rests quietly in retirement in front of the tool shed.

Made of iron and extremely heavy,
we used it as a portable tie out 'anchor'
for my children's ponies.

Here is my youngest daughter, Jennie with 'Dusty'.
'Freckles' stands in the background.

I would ride Freckles and Jennie would ride Dusty
as we went on adventures on the dirt roads and trails
nearby.

The children grew up and the ponies lived out
their retirement here as pampered pets.

On a recent exploration I found this mossy rock placed on this old tree stump.

A mystery......who placed it there?
Probably my Mr., as he loves to leave little surprises for me.

I love to see what is blooming and growing on my daily excursions.

Here some blue berries of Oregon grape are ripening in the underbrush.
These are edible.

The Salmon Berries are also ripening -
named for their beautiful salmon color.

These are rather bland tasting, but a favorite of the birds.
I have watched fat-bellied Robins hovering like hummingbirds
just to pluck them from their slender branches.

The Red Elderberry are also ripe and the reason
 why the foothills are teeming with birds.

These are toxic to humans, but a favorite of the birds
 and grow in abundance here.

By season's end, every last berry will have been consumed.

Speaking of delicious berries - the blackberries are in bloom!

Visions of pies, cobblers and tarts are floating through my mind.

Of course, I never go anywhere without my faithful companions,
Champ and Whitey.

These golden summer days stretch out before me
like beautiful jewels on the necklace of time.

Like that child from long ago,
I wake up each morning excited
to experience each and every day.

Wishing you all lovely summer days
full of fun and exploration.

And plenty of watermelon seed fights :)

xoxo

"There shall be eternal summer in a grateful heart"
- Celia Thaxter -

"How sweet I roamed from field to field,
and tasted all the summer's pride"
-William Blake -