Goose Parade

I was walking down to the lodge the other day to get my mail when I came across this goose parade. The babies were being marched from one pond to the next, and they're about to enter this one. Yesterday, I counted a total of 19 geese.

It's been a quiet week at the cabin, pleasantly so. I heard a wood thrush sing this morning. They've been quieter for a few weeks because of nesting duties, so it was nice to be awakened by their song again.

In a few days, it will be summer solstice, and then the hours of daylight will slowly start to fade. I've been noticing that because of the surrounding mountains, my sunrise is about 30 minutes later than the the official sunrise times at the nearest city. Official sunrise is 5:37 right now, but I saw didn't see the sun breach the mountain to the east until just before 6:15 a.m. And sunset is about 30 minutes earlier as well. Sunset is officially supposed to be around 8:45 p.m., but I'm watching the sun drop below the western mountain around 8:15 p.m. It stays light for hours after the sun's disk has disappeared. Even at 10 p.m. I can't yet see but a few of the brightest stars.