common milkweed starting to flower
Photo by J. Harrington
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Meanwhile, the day lilies behind the house have exploded. Their burst of blossoms are a reasonable, and quieter, alternative to the typical July 4th "bombs bursting in air." If the swamp lilies had accelerated their flowering by a week or so, we could have enjoyed orange and red flower bursts for the Fourth.
day lily blossoms are bursting in air
Photo by J. Harrington
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Our extended weather forecast doesn't offer any relief from the streak of heat and humidity we've been "enjoying." I'm starting to focus on which outside chores can be done in small chunks or deferred until cooler temperatures return, yet still get completed before snowfall makes them moot. Do you know the only month of the year when there hasn't been a snowfall in Minnesota? Do you also know that that answer is debatable? How's this for a July 4th fantasy for Northern Minnesota: fireworks cancelled due to blizzard? That would do a real number on any monarch butterflies up there, wouldn't it? No matter how volatile the climate becomes, we can't evade our dependence on nature, even on Independence Day.
a solitary swamp milkweed reaches for the sky
Photo by J. Harrington
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On the Pulse of Morning
By Maya Angelou
A Rock, A River, A TreeHosts to species long since departed,Marked the mastodon,The dinosaur, who left dried tokensOf their sojourn hereOn our planet floor,Any broad alarm of their hastening doomIs lost in the gloom of dust and ages.But today, the Rock cries out to us, clearly, forcefully,Come, you may stand upon myBack and face your distant destiny,But seek no haven in my shadow,I will give you no hiding place down here.You, created only a little lower thanThe angels, have crouched too long inThe bruising darknessHave lain too longFacedown in ignorance,Your mouths spilling wordsArmed for slaughter.The Rock cries out to us today,You may stand upon me,But do not hide your face.[...]
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