Happy Solstice! Welcome to Summer!

Where I am, and for most of Minnesota, there's a good deal of sunshine in store for us today. We're overdue. Clouds plus fairly heavy fog this morning dimmed the sunrise, which might have been more important if this were Stonehenge. Now that we're officially into Summer, I can't wait to see what weather's in store for us after our outside the box Winter and Spring. Do we return to something we'll recognize or continue to explore new variability?

This morning I headed for The Loft Literary Center in Minneapolis to take a class on how to market writing and get it published. I've taken classes there in the past and it felt good to be back. On the way home, driving through our little section of Carlos Avery Wildlife Management Area, I confirmed something I thought I noticed a few days ago. Different families of geese have goslings of wildly different sizes. There's little guys like the ones posted here yesterday, and below, plus some that look to be about half grown (not shown). Such variety wasn't obvious in years past. I also don't understand how Mother Goose teaches her kids to stay off the road. None of our semi-obedient dogs would be off leash that close to traffic.

goose and goslings                      © harrington

One of Summer's pleasures is taking time to relax and enjoy the sunshine. Amy Lowell tells all about it.

Bath

By Amy Lowell 

The day is fresh-washed and fair, and there is a smell of tulips and narcissus in the air.
       The sunshine pours in at the bath-room window and bores through the water in the bath-tub in lathes and planes of greenish-white. It cleaves the water into flaws like a jewel, and cracks it to bright light.
       Little spots of sunshine lie on the surface of the water and dance, dance, and their reflections wobble deliciously over the ceiling; a stir of my finger sets them whirring, reeling. I move a foot and the planes of light in the water jar. I lie back and laugh, and let the green-white water, the sun-flawed beryl water, flow over me. The day is almost too bright to bear, the green water covers me from the too bright day. I will lie here awhile and play with the water and the sun spots. The sky is blue and high. A crow flaps by the window, and there is a whiff of tulips and narcissus in the air.