View from a Rural Village

Should I not be heard from, or seen again, I am heading to the BASEMENT to change the filter in the furnace. I publish this as a note to future mystery buffs who will, on some cold October morning, sit over steaming cups of coffee pondering my fate. Was it the giant spiders that cocooned her and gradually wrapped her DNA into their silken webs? Perhaps the obese mice that lived a free and easy life in the darkness under the stairs, descended on her back as she bent over the hidden space in the furnace as she slid the new filter in place? Maybe it had been massive bats, the likes of which had not been seen in the midnight skies wrapped their giant wings around her body as her screams went unheard? I hope you remember me fondly as you reach for the pumpkin spice coffee creamer. Here I go....................................

This has been a busy week and temperatures have been surprisingly cool for August.  I know I have accomplished all the short-term goals but, here it is, Friday evening and I'm feeling like I've watched the world go by without me.  Maybe it is me trying to decide if  I should start preparing for a long winter or go read a book and relax.  Truth is that autumn always makes me homesick.  This I do not understand as I've lived in the same house for 45 years and in the same region my entire life.  But homesick I am, every autumn.  I want to be stacking the woodpile and putting up canned goods and freezing wonderful soups.  Time is short to knit the mittens and socks to keep me warm and I need to get to the book store and start building a winter stack of novels. But, I don't have a fireplace and no place to store freshly canned vegetables.  One more day of homesickness unanswered.  Maybe the sun will shine tomorrow and it will feel more lik...

"Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered weak and weary...." Ah. A favorite poem I repeat to myself when my life needs a rhythm and a rhyme. Not your favorite? Sigh. Poe speaks for me when the confusion of life overruns my brain. "Came a tapping at my chamber door." What mysteries abound in the night? Is it the witch creeping closer to the edge of my bed? Is it doom searching along the depths of night on my ceiling? Am I safe in my corner? "Quoth the Raven, 'Nevermore'!" Ah! Does this help to explain the darkness of my perspectives? Does it help to know this is a picture of the house of my childhood? Or are you also pondering weak and weary?

As the "feels like" temperature glistened at 100 I realized the little girl in my soul is waiting for my daddy to get home from work and utter those magic words "Let's go for a ride!" Of course there was no air conditioning back in the 1950s so the cure was a long car ride with the windows opened. My brother, and I would be hustled into our pajamas . We'd carry our pillows and out to the car we went. V ery often the rides took us into Wisconsin to search out the northern coolness of a summer night. The firefly show would be intense and the heat lightening danced between clouds. Then the delight of stopping at a drive-up for Green Rivers or (heaven in a frosted mug) root beer floats. Dad would drive us from the heat into cool. He drove until we slept. With the magic of family my brother and I would fall asleep wrapped in the wonder of fireflies, root beer, and love. I don't remember coming home, only waking up in my own bed. Hoping for more summ...

 I'm not sure how many younger people have marveled at this phenomenon on a hot summer night but I know that back in the 1950s (and probably further back) many summer nights were spent watching this on the horizon. The best place to watch this was laying in the middle of the lawn with grass cooled by the evening. The horizon you could see was determined by the height of the grass. Fireflies wrapped around the edges of the view and nighthawks flicked back an ... d forth within the arc of your vision. Security came from knowing your parents were safely seated on the porch steps and your annoying brother was within arms' reach. There! Just to the north. Lightning! Silently flashing in the sky. Then to the west. Yes! The stars, not threatened by any impending storm continued to glow and twinkle. The dew slowly descends and the ground is damp. The parents stand and call you in and even your brother's plea for five more minutes has no effect. Daddy reaches down an...

Stormy,  steamy day.

First day of summer.  Temps in mid 80s.  More storms tomorrow.

Cooler with low humidity.  Much better!

Not bad.

Another damp day.

Late afternoon.   Dry and pleasant today.

Between rains.

Another evening photo.   Perhaps this daily photo project is coming to an end.

Damp. Steamy. Rainy. Not a great day.

Change in the air.  Rain most of day and cooler tonight.  Yes this is an evening photo.

Had been a nice day.  I forgot the picture until evening and the rain.  Sigh.

Definitely a summer day.  Temp just over 90.  I prefer cooler.

Perfect summer day.  Low humidity.  Temperature of 90.

Wonderful day but rain may move in.  

Sultry.  Waiting on more storms but not severe.

Again, perfect.

Another perfect June day.

Another perfect June day.

Sweet,  sweet weather.  June is doing good.

Gorgeous.  

Better today. Dry and slowly warming.

Rain.  Rain.   Rain.

Missed yesterday.   Busy day with part of day at Starved Rock with brother, sister,  and sister-in-law.   Really nice day.

Deeper shades of green.

Rain. Sun. Rain. Sun.

Memorial Day.  Rain early. Sun later.

Warm day.

Gorgeous.   Simply gorgeous.

Another perfect spring day.  Dew point at 35 and temps in low 70s.

Spring returns.

Early morning view.   Clouds moved in later.  Cold today. 44 degrees at 5 pm.

Chilly today. I am turning the furnace on!

A perfect day.

'Tis predicted to be a dark and stormy day.

Wet.  Steamy.  Frog songs in the background.

Twilight.  Almost missed today.

Nice but rain coming.

Dinnertime.

Day improved and sun came out in afternoon.

Still rainy.  Sigh.

Gloomy, chilly day.  54 degrees at noon with rain in forecast.

After almost 2" of rain yesterday the green is intense.

Damp day.

Afternoon shot and clouds have moved in.  Mid 80s and dry.

Sun came out and temperature hit 80.

Showers.

Rainy day.

Not as sunny but trees are truly amazing.