A sunny afternoon

Some people keep diaries or journals. Maybe taking photographs is my version of the same thing, though it relies on my being able to remember the where, when and how.

Mostly, once I’ve used photographs for a post, I delete them, though I will admit to a reluctance to ever discard pictures of animals, or particularly beautiful scenery.

And anything unusual.

In consequence, I have a very large archive. Far too large. Periodically I have a purge and I am due for a quite serious one, what will all the photos I’ve taken lately.

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Generally, I write about photos promptly, but sometimes other subjects come up in the meantime that need writing about when they are fresh…like peacocks in driveways.

However, backtracking to the end of June, before the heatwave…

Our heatwave, I feel I should mention, was nothing like as drastic as the one affecting Europe. Thursday, which supposedly was the hottest, the temperature in Cambridge reached 97F/36C. Hot, certainly, but for once the humidity was low which makes an enormous difference.

Admittedly, it is easy for me to be dismissive, sitting in an air-conditioned house, but when I have to go out, it does not feel as oppressive as previous heatwaves.

The rest of July and August are yet to come!

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This day, at the end of June, I was captivated by the clouds and the grass, our neighbour’s house in the distance. I think the flowers are clover.

The meadow is full of milkweed, but it gets cut down and bundled up with the hay. Our own lower field will be untouched until the end of Fall, food for butterflies and bees.

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We can’t help wondering if that peacock walked all the way down this road to our driveway. If we’d been driving by would we have offered it a lift?

Wherever possible, we always stop for animals and birds.

We would stop for fish too, but that would be unusual.

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That day finished up like this. For every photo I share, there are a dozen that I dump.

A program I watched recently featured a character who was fascinated by the ever-changing sky, staring at it and painting its many moods. Someone I could totally identify with!

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On the penultimate day of June, Grant suddenly fancied going for a drive in the early afternoon so we headed in the direction of nowhere in particular, observing the utter transformation of roadways that now have the appearance of tunnels through a jungle.

Dazzling puddles of sunlight breaking up deep shade.

These same roads travelled in alternate seasons feel entirely different. Of course.

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We ended up looking for muskrats but saw only a dragonfly.

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And a terrapin that I feared was stranded, until it plunged into the water.

Algae-filled, despite no evidence of vandals.

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The marsh had filled in a lot since we were last here.

Hungry insects swarmed toward us with intent, so we swiftly departed.

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Hesitating for a bunny-rabbit. There are many about these days. We seldom see them at home, although one visited briefly last Fall and seemed on the point of introductions, moving toward me as I crouched in the grass. A car passed in the road causing it to hop off and that was the last I ever saw of it.

Having cared for two domestic bunnies, I have a very soft spot for them.

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On a sunny late-June afternoon, the roadways were lined with day-lilies.

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Crops are growing quickly on hills not so long ago bare.

It feels as if the cycle of life is speeding up. In childhood, time dragged interminably, a year seeming unending. I can’t recall at what age I became aware of time slipping past so quickly.

Presumably it is a change in perspective that comes with age, since everyone I know in my age bracket appears to experience the same thing.

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Noticing these pretty flowers at the edge of the road, I asked Grant to stop.

These are the flowers we saw at Fort Ticonderoga – Field bindweed or Convolvulus.

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It is surprising how much the scenery can change within a few miles.

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And all very close to home.

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A short drive on a sunny afternoon.

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