morning has Broken

sunrise over Mermaid Rock

Morning has broken, like the first morning
Blackbird has spoken, like the first bird
Praise for the singing, praise for the morning
Praise for the springing fresh from the word

Sweet the rain's new fall, sunlit from heaven
Like the first dewfall, on the first grass
Praise for the sweetness of the wet garden
Sprung in completeness where his feet pass

Mine is the sunlight, mine is the morning
Born of the one light, Eden saw play
Praise with elation, praise every morning
God's recreation of the new day

As Sung by Cat Stevens

lyrics by Eleanor Farjeon

dog day Afternoon

Mr. Burton Booth, dog extraordinaire

90 degrees, a bazillion percent humidity, all of us, including my dog nephew, headed into the Lake for a swim.

welcome to Musket Point

Camp

Saxe's Landing

Saxe's Landing, the place of my childhood summers. Barefoot children, Coppertone, rowboats, rafts, perch and sunfish, apple orchards, black raspberry ice cream.

Matthew Sax is my ancestor, the remains of the wharf still exist, the ledgers from the general store are still legible from the 1820s, a fascinating story all by themselves. "The Landing" is less than 10 miles from the Canadian border. The "store" at the wharf was built in 1822, replacing those buildings burned by the British during their retreat back to Canada at the end of the War of 1812.

next, a ferry boat Ride

Lake Champlain Transportation Co. 

The Plattsburgh

heading west to the New York shore from Grand Isle, VT

the wild blue Yonder

Over Middle America, heading East

Hello again, have returned from missed flights, unexpected stay in the Windy City and a week's visit to see family on Lake Champlain, Saxe's Landing, Chazy, New York. Some things were more fun than others.
More to follow

checkin' on the Kiddos

Violet-green swallows

waiting for chow

you kind of lost your focus, Son

emerging Constellation

• The Full Buck Moon –  July is normally the month when the new antlers of buck deer push out of their foreheads in coatings of velvety fur. (New Farmer's Almanac)

The full Buck Moon, is flooding the night sky with light, making the usual constellations barely visible. A piece of  wire fence and a garden stake make a constellation of their own, keeping the flesh and blood bucks in velvet from eating their starry companions.

cool, clear Water

Canyon Lake Park spillway

dolphin or Whale?

Delphiniums get their name from the Greek delphis, meaning dolphin. I think they look more like the beluga whale calf at the Shedd Aquarium in Chicago. However, since "whale" traces its roots to a Latin word for "seapig", I guess delphinium is a more dignified moniker.  Seapigium, not so much.

Shedd Aquarium's beluga calf, Nunavik

did you want some Cake?

whitetail fawn

Baking birthday cake, putting dishes in the sink, look out the kitchen window and there is a small visitor. Mom was resting in the thicket behind him. We grabbed a couple of photos through the garage door. They declined our invitation for cake, and took off with "flags" waving.

Celebration!

Happy Birthday, Sweetie

eyes on the Prize

 

This is Paula

Paula is one of those retrievers who will swim endlessly after a frisbee thrown in the lake.

Paula is headed for the gazebo, she totally missed the frisbee floating to her left.

Paula aims to retrieve a duck instead.

"Paula, turn around, you stupid dog."
 Paula finally draws a bead on her frisbee.

Paula returns proudly to shore and shakes cold water all over a shrieking little girl child.

Paula barks and barks then rolls in goose goobers.

Don't you wish Paula was your dog?

The End

make a Wish

Torenia Catalina Midnight Blue

Meet Torenia, commonly known as the Wishbone flower. Ok, I never saw the "wishbone" until I brought the photos I took into Photoshop and looked at the macro shots. Do you see it??

It is a gorgeous little shade plant that I am growing for the first time, supposed to be friendly to hummingbirds.

We shall see if the returning migrants give it a stamp of approval.

a question of Horsepower

4 Horsepower and no Horsepower

is this a Cowbird?

The mountain bluebird is watching for his open range companions who should be arriving in their summer pasture any day this week. Will he be startled when Angus and Black Baldies show up instead of Jerseys???

Why in the world do they sell "beware of dairy cows" signs out here in the prairie grasslands instead of ones for the omnipresent beef animals? No idea.

prairie Afternoon #4

little flake of the empyrean

prairie afternoon #3

Happy 88th Birthday to my dad, Robert Booth!

He and my mother (Helen) were, and still are, the inspiration and expert references for a family of birders, conservationists, gardeners and nature observers.

4th of July

Happy Birthday, America!

prairie Afternoon #2

Brewer's blackbird in silhouette

prairie Afternoon #1

Waiting for the afternoon shower

for your garden variety Earache

Polygala alba

White milkwort, a prairie perennial wildflower, Lewis and Clark noted in their trip journal, and preserved a sample for their collection. The Native people of the northern plains brewed a decoction of the roots of milkwort to treat earaches, the Corps of Discovery botanist does not mention if they had need of earache relief.