It seems we’re having a thundery monsoon now, which is fine!  I haven’t had to water the garden for days.  I took some watery shots from porches.  I have a whole crop of veg/herb/flower seedlings on the back porch, waiting for me to find them concealed locations where they won’t be instantly devoured.  Good luck with that.

This morning I watched this squirrel hang down over the fence and chomp off lengths of sunflower stem and sit on the fence munching them like candy.  It had already eaten the flower off; now it was just working its way down the plant.  Welp, that explains it.  Probably also all the corn carnage strewn about.  That, and the finches biting off all the zinnia petals, and those !@#$ wabbits.  It’s challenging, but it makes a great nature show for Misu and us.  It’s not like we have anywhere else to be.

The other day, we watched a big hawk perched right out front in the crape myrtle tree, being dive-bombed by a pair of songbirds, possibly defending a nest.  The hawk wasn’t fazed, just sat there.  I love having predators nearby.  Hopefully it keeps the varmints down, as it should be.

Just an aside…I was thinking about how we antisocial loner introverts are the most adaptable to isolation during a pandemic.  An odd advantage to have!

I understand how difficult it must be for many people not to be able to socialize or go to a workplace as usual, or to be stuck home with restless kids or away from family.  It’s not a natural human state, to be forced into solitary confinement indefinitely, though for us it’s just more of same, only more so.  Not ideal, but manageable.

I get why people are impatient to get back to work and life, but not the utter denial of science and the very real threat of spreading this killer virus and delaying the very return they crave.  They make it harder on all of us.

And now back to happier matters.  Here are some drippy marigolds and snapdragons.

Out in the wet “prairie”, I was happy to find more native wildflowers blooming, like goldenrod, asters, coneflowers, and finally the orange butterflyweed, a milkweed attractive to butterflies and pollinators.  Now all we need is the butterflies!