midsummer's day

oh, i've been pining and pining for a day of Earth and green and nature and all of its richness and divinity!

there has been much fun and play around here lately (well, i s'pose there always is), and i've been more and more needing to bury myself deeply and thoroughly in Mama Nature's gifts.

i began my day with working on a house blessing.
gathering, reading, touching, inhaling... consuming!.

 ivy, mullein, catnip, peppermint, yarrow,

lavender, chamomile, lemon balm, hyssop

sigh.  how lovely.

the other grown-up began his day with settling in his desk to play with his new (father's day) neck-hackle...
ie - tying flies.

then it was time to pack up the books and other tools that might be needed for the day.
off to the wilds, then.

 

skulls, bat guano, blue bellies (fence lizards), hiking, a picnic lunch, desert wildflowers, swallow mud-and-spit nests...

just the thing!

up the canyon, then, for a bit of fishing and n_____-baby splashing

beaver's dam

and inhaling and absorbing the willows.  the willows are the mama's favorite.


further up a little way to hunt for snakes and to investigate the hot springs.

let's go all the way up, now, shall we?
to the top.

tag at mountain-top

cocoons

red-tailed hawk

... and heading back down

there are mountains made of conglomerate rock

and unbelievable views

 and grandly-sized, glorious patches of red clover

and stones just waiting for skimmin'

and caddis larvae investigations -

admiring their ingenuity and ability to make stone and wood cases for themselves

and other critters, too.

leech

so i'll just sigh,
and say "thank you"...
for that will certainly do.