It's been an odd spring this year - late to start, and with temperatures extremely mercurial. The final week of May was sweltering, with day after day of 90+ degrees. Lilacs came and went like a purple flash, and many other flowers were thrown off schedule by the unseasonable heat.
Allergies are a doozy this year - all the most sneeze-inducing trees and grasses seem to be seeding at once. Between allergy-induced brain fog and menopausal brain fog, I feel as though I've been barely functional for the last few weeks. But I see by my photos that I've taken a few rides during that time, so grab a cup of something hot or cold (as befits your weather), and get ready for lots of pictures.
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Way back in the middle of May, on a day of bright blue skies and cold wind, I saw red-velvet leaves growing on a shady bank:
The first wild geranium, pale and shivering:
A small forest of leafy spurge:
And asparagus!
(Lots of asparagus.)
Those jersey pockets sure come in handy sometimes. :)
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A week later, things were heating up. A shot of refreshing green on a hot sticky day:
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On Memorial Weekend, it was hotter still.
I found a new-to-me wildflower:
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| Fringed Puccoon |
Felt patriotic as I climbed a hill and rode past a flag-adorned fence:
Enjoyed a bit of Americana:
And traveled round a favourite bend in the road:
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Memorial Day, a sizzling 95 degrees. Over the last few years I've grown to like riding in really hot weather, especially when the humidity is low, as it was that evening.
Shadow shot:
Wild geraniums looking cool in the shade:
Locust tree in bloom:
Vine-wreathed fence on a country road:
Deer sightings were plentiful that evening:
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A week later, temperatures had dropped sharply. On a chilly Sunday ride in early June, I found oodles of wildflowers:
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| From left to right: Spiderwort (top), Hoary Puccoon (bottom), Columbine, Balsam Groundsel |
A bug on a leaf:
More wildflowers:
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| Clockwise from upper left: Dame's Rocket, Wild Rose, Wild Geranium, Golden Alexanders, Common Yarrow |
Some horses at pasture were startled by my passing, and ran thundering across the field while I fumbled for the camera:
Red-winged blackbirds, young and old, were holding a concert in the marsh:
Along came a road-hogging piece of farm equipment:
Wildflowers spotted in the last two miles of the ride:
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| Clockwise from upper left: Mystery member of the pea family, Meadow Anemone, Penstemon, Buttercup |
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And that brings us nicely up to today. A truly gorgeous day it was, windy-warm and blue-skied - the kind of day that gives June a good name, and makes me grateful to be alive and riding in such a beautiful place.
Yep, the sky really was this blue:
Windmills turning on the high prairie:
Giant hogweed flourishing on a shady verge:
A favourite barn, with decoration:
A lovingly-preserved one-room schoolhouse:
The biggest collection of farm buildings I've seen anywhere (so big that the only way to shoot them all is from a mile up the road):
Buttercups and bicycle spokes:
Blue flag iris growing wild in a wet ditch:
A good day for a ride.
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It's nearly 9 o'clock in the evening as I write this post, and the sky is still fully light. Rosy clouds drift like bits of sheer ribbon over the house, and the western sky glows with an opal flame.
O wondrous almost-summer!
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