There is a Primary song that I learned as a small child that I still love and I sing all the time. It goes:
In the leafy treetops, the birds sing “Good morning.”
They’re first to see the sun.
They must tell ev’ryone.
In the leafy treetops, the birds sing “Good morning.”
In my pretty garden, the flowers are nodding.
“How do you do?” they say.
“How do you do today?”
In my pretty garden, the flowers are nodding.
These mornings, the leafy treetops are indeed full of birds singing “Good morning.” We passed the solstice on Friday and summer is officially here, so the sky begins to grow light very early these days. On a clear morning it starts around 4:30. And the birds start to sing as soon as the sky begins to pale. The dawn chorus of the birds is worth getting up even at that early hour to hear. Each species greets the rising sun with its own song from the plaintive cooing of the mourning doves to the bright cheering of the cardinals, the soft song of the bluebirds, the musical robins and grosbeaks, the exuberant wrens, and the meandering melodies of the catbirds and thrashers. It is glorious music.
The second verse of that song also perfectly fits these late June days. My garden is pretty and it is full of nodding flowers. When I was small I actually thought the song said the flowers were naughty. I understood how small boys could be naughty – I had some experience there, but I couldn’t think how flowers managed it. I think now that weeds, which might qualify as flowers, certainly can be naughty. We’ve reached the time of year when the weeds have come on full force. Just when I thought some of them might not show up this year, they have arrived like a green plague. Myriads of galinsoga, quack grass, chickweed, pigweed, and purslane sprouts have appeared in the vegetable garden and the flowerbeds. I pull them up and by the next day, there are more. I have to spend part of every day that I can pulling them out before they overwhelm the garden. One weed that is especially bad this year is corn speedwell (Veronica arvensis). I never saw this weed in my yard until last year when it appeared in the lawn. Now it comes up everywhere, especially in the flowerbeds where it forms mats. It has tiny bright blue flowers which would be almost cute if the plant wasn’t such a nuisance.
In the leafy treetops, the birds sing “Good morning.”
They’re first to see the sun.
They must tell ev’ryone.
In the leafy treetops, the birds sing “Good morning.”
In my pretty garden, the flowers are nodding.
“How do you do?” they say.
“How do you do today?”
In my pretty garden, the flowers are nodding.
These mornings, the leafy treetops are indeed full of birds singing “Good morning.” We passed the solstice on Friday and summer is officially here, so the sky begins to grow light very early these days. On a clear morning it starts around 4:30. And the birds start to sing as soon as the sky begins to pale. The dawn chorus of the birds is worth getting up even at that early hour to hear. Each species greets the rising sun with its own song from the plaintive cooing of the mourning doves to the bright cheering of the cardinals, the soft song of the bluebirds, the musical robins and grosbeaks, the exuberant wrens, and the meandering melodies of the catbirds and thrashers. It is glorious music.
The second verse of that song also perfectly fits these late June days. My garden is pretty and it is full of nodding flowers. When I was small I actually thought the song said the flowers were naughty. I understood how small boys could be naughty – I had some experience there, but I couldn’t think how flowers managed it. I think now that weeds, which might qualify as flowers, certainly can be naughty. We’ve reached the time of year when the weeds have come on full force. Just when I thought some of them might not show up this year, they have arrived like a green plague. Myriads of galinsoga, quack grass, chickweed, pigweed, and purslane sprouts have appeared in the vegetable garden and the flowerbeds. I pull them up and by the next day, there are more. I have to spend part of every day that I can pulling them out before they overwhelm the garden. One weed that is especially bad this year is corn speedwell (Veronica arvensis). I never saw this weed in my yard until last year when it appeared in the lawn. Now it comes up everywhere, especially in the flowerbeds where it forms mats. It has tiny bright blue flowers which would be almost cute if the plant wasn’t such a nuisance.
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| Corn Speedwell, the bane of my garden. |
The domesticated garden plants are thriving too. We’ve had a lot of rain – I mean a lot. Last week three inches fell. That’s been about our weekly average these days. The rain makes everything green and lush. Sometimes a bit too lush. Some flowers like lupines and peonies get top heavy in the rain and flop over. And all this wet weather had brought up the mushrooms.
The peonies are at their peak right now. The irises are almost done. The mock oranges are in full bloom. I can smell their sweet perfume all over the yard. The roses, domestic and wild, are blooming. My old pink rose that only flowers in June is covered with fragrant blossoms. Out in the orchard the apples are plumping. The asparagus is done for the year, but we’ll eat our first lettuces this week. The tomatoes and peppers are blooming which means fruit in a few weeks.
The peonies are at their peak right now. The irises are almost done. The mock oranges are in full bloom. I can smell their sweet perfume all over the yard. The roses, domestic and wild, are blooming. My old pink rose that only flowers in June is covered with fragrant blossoms. Out in the orchard the apples are plumping. The asparagus is done for the year, but we’ll eat our first lettuces this week. The tomatoes and peppers are blooming which means fruit in a few weeks.
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| One of my peonies. |
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| Another of my peonies. |
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| The last of the irises. |
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| This one just bloomed here at the end. |
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| The mock orange bush. |
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| My old pink rose. |
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| Little apples. |
The deer that was killed on the road last week was not the only one that frequents my garden. On Wednesday morning when I took my morning walk around the property there was a big doe in the orchard. She was not alarmed that I was there. She was standing right by one of my soap socks – so much for that being a deterrent. She just stood there and looked at me. I walked toward her and clapped my hands and she strolled casually across the orchard and into Shillig’s yard where she stopped to nibble on the lawn. I kept walking and clapping and she continued on at an unconcerned pace across the road and into the thorn wood. Now I’ll have to devise harsher methods to discourage her visits.
We have porch toad. We’ve had them before. For some reason toads like to hang out on our porches. This one travels back and forth from the back porch to the front porch. I like toads. They eat bugs and slugs and that makes them my friends. I also saw The Snake several times during the week. We don’t often see snakes in our yard. I don’t know what species it is, but I know it’s not venomous. I like having it around. I’m hoping it eats voles. Too bad it doesn’t eat deer or weeds.
We have porch toad. We’ve had them before. For some reason toads like to hang out on our porches. This one travels back and forth from the back porch to the front porch. I like toads. They eat bugs and slugs and that makes them my friends. I also saw The Snake several times during the week. We don’t often see snakes in our yard. I don’t know what species it is, but I know it’s not venomous. I like having it around. I’m hoping it eats voles. Too bad it doesn’t eat deer or weeds.
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| The porch toad. |
I am home alone this weekend. Stacey and Miriam had plans that took them away. They drove down to the Thayn’s house on Thursday evening. Stacey was going to fly out of Pittsburgh to Colorado Springs to attend her 40th high school reunion. She went to the airport on Friday morning, but couldn’t get a flight out. She was flying standby and there were no available seats. So she spent the weekend at the Thayn’s with Tabor and the granddaughters. Miriam and Rachel left on Friday afternoon and drove to Michigan to spend the weekend with Sarah.
Thanks to technology, I get to see all the fun everyone else is having. Rachel, Sarah, and Miriam went to the temple together, they got pedicures, and they ate gelato among other things. Down at the Thayn’s house, Stacey got to spend time playing with Hazel, June, and Mabel. They went to a park. They ate ice cream cones while they watched the moon flowers open. I heard that she was going to help Tabor butcher chickens, but I don’t know if they did. So much fun for everyone. And here I sit. It’s my own fault. I could have gone down to the Thyan’s too, but being the homebody that I am, I said no. Besides I had to take care of the chickens. And I have responsibilities at church.
Thanks to technology, I get to see all the fun everyone else is having. Rachel, Sarah, and Miriam went to the temple together, they got pedicures, and they ate gelato among other things. Down at the Thayn’s house, Stacey got to spend time playing with Hazel, June, and Mabel. They went to a park. They ate ice cream cones while they watched the moon flowers open. I heard that she was going to help Tabor butcher chickens, but I don’t know if they did. So much fun for everyone. And here I sit. It’s my own fault. I could have gone down to the Thyan’s too, but being the homebody that I am, I said no. Besides I had to take care of the chickens. And I have responsibilities at church.
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| Three sisters - at the temple, getting a pedicure, eating gelato. |
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| At the Thayn's house. |
So I’ve been here all by myself. I didn’t mind it too much at first – for a few hours anyway. About as long as it took for me to tidy the house. That’s always the first thing I do when I’m alone for some reason. After that, things got too quiet. I spent as much time as I could outdoors, where I’m usually by myself most of the time anyway. But when I was alone in the house in the evenings, I had to have music playing to distract me. Sometimes I read. Sometimes I watched a movie. And when I went to bed I tossed and turned. I wonder why I only hear critters scampering in the walls at night when I’m home alone. I think they wait and say, “Yep, he’s alone tonight, let’s dance in the ceiling above his bed.” I’ll be glad when Stacey and Miriam are home again.
We’ve passed the summer solstice now. I always feel a little sad on that day. Now the days are growing shorter again and the year is sliding in the other direction. The end of that slide six months from now is something I do not want to think about. I’ll bask in the warm summer sun for as long as I can. I hope we actually get some warm summer sun. The first days of summer so far have been pleasant, but not very warm.
Yesterday, the first full day of summer, I spent the day outside. It was a beautiful sunny day, not too warm, but perfect for doing hard work. I got my tiller back from the repair shop that morning, so I tilled parts of the yard that needed it. I tilled the top part of the chicken yard and spread some grass seed. When it gets tall I’ll let the chickens back into that part of their yard. They like fresh grass. I also tilled along the property line where the row of spruce trees we removed once stood. While I was tilling there, I unearthed a pair of glasses that I lost several years ago. I don’t know how they got there. They were buried pretty deep. They are too scuffed up to use. Going through tiller tines will do that.
We’ve passed the summer solstice now. I always feel a little sad on that day. Now the days are growing shorter again and the year is sliding in the other direction. The end of that slide six months from now is something I do not want to think about. I’ll bask in the warm summer sun for as long as I can. I hope we actually get some warm summer sun. The first days of summer so far have been pleasant, but not very warm.
Yesterday, the first full day of summer, I spent the day outside. It was a beautiful sunny day, not too warm, but perfect for doing hard work. I got my tiller back from the repair shop that morning, so I tilled parts of the yard that needed it. I tilled the top part of the chicken yard and spread some grass seed. When it gets tall I’ll let the chickens back into that part of their yard. They like fresh grass. I also tilled along the property line where the row of spruce trees we removed once stood. While I was tilling there, I unearthed a pair of glasses that I lost several years ago. I don’t know how they got there. They were buried pretty deep. They are too scuffed up to use. Going through tiller tines will do that.
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| After tilling. |
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| Lost glasses found. |
Today was our Branch Conference. Leaders from the Stake came down to meet with us. I am the Branch Clerk now so I had to be at the extra meetings. I had to go early and I had to stay late. The meetings were good and I got lunch out of it too, so it was all okay. Now I’m home, all alone, on a gorgeous, warm (80°), and sunny Sabbath afternoon. I think I’ll go for a walk after I do the chores. I don’t even want to take a nap and miss out on a minute of such a lovely day. Plus that way I won’t have to sit around in the empty house all afternoon. Stacey and Miriam will be home tonight. It’s all good.
