Oddly, it was enjoyable today to sit outside to read a bit and to actually *not* hear any birds singing. I guess the mating and nesting season is over, and they just weren't around singing today, which seemed odd. I adore listening to the birds sing, don't get me wrong, but there was something so peaceful about hearing nothing but a lone cricket chirping and no other sounds at all. Every now and then I'd hear one of our pigeons cooing or a blue jay calling to another one, but for the most part it was just me, and the cricket and the balmy fall day.
One of the things I love about living here is that sometimes it's just dead quiet outdoors. Not during the spring or summer with all the frogs and birds and crickets etc., but moreso in the fall and winter. I grew up in a town near enough to highway I-75 to hear the frequent or sometimes constant buzzing sound of trucks and cars speeding along. Other friends who live in the country also have highways or busy roads nearby to ruin their peace. It's amazing how far the noise of cars and trucks can carry!
Carter joined me to read on the porch for awhile, and then we wandered around the yard and property checking things out and taking some photos as we often do. Today I was trying to photograph the inside of the groundhog hole that I ended up with half of my leg down the other day before I fell while carrying my grandson. We were both fine, and I'm stil laughing about it. I was hoping to get a pic of a groundhog looking back at me, but no such luck! This is all I got:
The bumblebees were all enjoying the last days of my giant marigolds as they collected nectar like crazy today. While we photographed them,they buzzed all around us, luckily not seeming to be interested in stinging us!
Eventually the mosquitos became too thick, and chased me back indoors. I always wonder what the purpose of the pesky mosquito is. I guess I need to try to find out, since I despise them so for ruining so many evenings of nice weather for me! My kids are much tougher than I am, and have remained outdoors with their friends playing soccer and riding the go-cart around the property this evening.
Earlier today Shannon and I enjoyed sitting in the warm, almost too hot sun, to watch Carter's soccer team win 11-0. So far they have not lost a game this season! On our way home we stopped and browsed a moving sale down the road to our west and found a few small treasures.
Tomorrow we'll travel to my son Landon's college to watch him play soccer with his team. His ankle is still recovering from a bad sprain, so hopefully he can play! My mother and father-in-law will be coming too, and then coming back to town to spend the rest of the day and night with us.
It's hard to belive that a week ago we were wearing hats: 
and warm jackets and sporting red noses, cheeks, and hands after some time outdoors, and today we were back to beautiful summerlike temperatures!
I love walking in the peace and tranquility of the country! Sometimes I walk with my family, and sometimes I walk alone. I enjoy both kinds of walks for different reasons, but walking alone is one of the most tranquil moments in my day. Every year is different on the roads around us, as to which crops I will pass by, and where. This year I set out to being surrounded by fields of soybeans on my left and wheatfields on my right. The wheat in the early summer is a beautiful deep green, and when the breeze is blowing I love to see it swirl and sway, and listen to the sound of it's faint rustling.
Farther on I come upon deep green cornfields to my left and a dense forest to my right. It's hard for me to choose which way to set my gaze, for calling my eyes to the fields now in July, along with the waist high corn slowly sloping up the hill, is a hilltop covered with shining golden wheat. The two crops set next to each other make such a beautiful contrast with the evening sunshine glowing upon them, that it's hard to look away and into the dim brushy forest with a sunny glowing floor of moss and green leafy groundcover. Here the birds songs echo with a haunting sonance amongst the trees. It's a sound you can't quite describe, but can only experience. It's quite different than hearing them singing in the trees in my yard.
Also calling my eyes to the wood are faint crackles on the forest floor of squirrels and raccoons scurrying about, and the loud snapping of twigs as I glance up just in time to see a deer bounding off in the glow of the mossy tree-filled magic. I pause to pick and eat a wild blackberry off of the many shrubs lining the woods, and make a mental note to bring the children and ice cream buckets to this spot very soon!
Further on down the road a deer dashes right in front of me, and stops to stare at me when reaching the other side....often a momma is followed by one or two beautiful, tiny, spotted fawns.
Walking down the road my daughter lives on is another wonderful, yet very different experience. As far as the landscape seems to spread out around us on our own country road, it can't even compare to the appearance of depth, richness and vastness surrounding Lindee's home on **** Road. This tranquil dirt road makes its way through a dense forest about a mile to the north and south, but because the road is raised above the fields, it seems the farmlands go on forever, rolling their way out to the forest border. It's a beautiful thing to behold.
Best of all is to go walking after dark on a late June evening, because the feilds are aglow as far as the eye can see with fireflies twinkling in the night. In the dips in the road hangs a fine mist that smells wonderfully of minerals and rain. The quiet is almost deafening, since her home is so far out in the middle of nowhere, and you can't see any other homes in any direction but one. Past a tree line, a mile or so down, is a small Amish settlement. Most of the vehicles you see or hear passing by on any given day are horsedrawn, adorned with tiny smiling heads covered with bonnets or brimmed hats, and hands raised in a friendly wave. The deer are just as plentiful to view as they are here, and taking time to stop and watch them is a favorite pastime.
Another one of the highlights of our trip is the free big band dance at the Venetian Festival in St. Joseph. I love big band music! It's held on a lovely outdoor terrace on the bluff over the lake.
Here's the dance floor with the band behind
Here's Landon midair on his flip off the pier into Lake Michigan. Spending a day in St. Joe walking in the quaint shopping district is another annual part of out weeklong camping trip to Warren Dunes. By the end of the afternoon we are hot and tired and head down to the pier and beach for a nice cool swim in the lake!
Here he is jumping off the rail on the higher part of the pier
Over the River....
One of our favorite camping spots is Honey Lake, south of Bronson, MI. It's a quiet secluded lake without the noise of motorboats..they aren't allowed on this lake. We spent time there over the 4th weekend this year, along with some of our family from Missouri.
Here's Shannon and Carter in the rowboat