THE LUCKY ONE?

Purple Asters Along the Road Ditch Today

It's a beautiful, cool, and breezy Sunday morning.  I'm catching up on my nature blog after a short trip to Lake Superior last weekend.

This morn I'm in the middle of my walk down the road, taking a rest on a knoll in a sweet spot  with pen in hand.  This pen is from the Holiday Inn Express, and it's a great writer!

It's fun to observe the wild flowers along the road ditches, different ones than in early and mid summertime.  I love the purple and lavender flowers especially this time of year.




Thistles are a pest but, WOW, their bright pink colors
sure catch my eyes and the bees love them too.


Crickets steady chirps dominate the background sounds in my world today and I can hear a few birds singing in the thick stand of spruce trees nearby, but I'm not sure who they are.

Blue colors are peaking through the mainly overcast sky today that's filled with puffy gray clouds.  Cool temps and a few yellow birch leaves dotting the ground where I sit, remind me that fall is near, but I don't mind.  This cooler air is invigorating!
   
Elderberries nearby have ripened and the birds have had their way with them. 

Not only has the local flora been interesting lately, but the fauna has been on the move too in our neck of the woods.  Yesterday morning we spotted the three legged deer with two fawns and a forked buck in the field along our driveway.  She looks great!

A young wolf was captured on our trail camera several times in the past three weeks.  At first we thought he was a coyote, but his long nose told another story.

While I sit and and ponder a little longer, a monarch caterpillar nearby is browsing on milkweed leaves.  Monarchs produce three to four generations of butterflies each season in Wisconsin and the last ones to turn into butterflies at the end of summer get to make the long journey to California or Mexico.  Maybe this caterpillar, soon to be a butterfly, will be one of the lucky ones!

 

Enjoy this last month of summer... open up your eyes and take it all in... whether in a big old woods, or by observing a small patch of nature in your front or back yard.  You'll be amazed at what you see if you look hard enough!