Brown-eyed Susans

The brown-eyed susans are blooming, which tells me it is mid-summer already. The days are hazy, with thunderstorms almost every evening. The woods are quieter than they were in spring--birds are nesting and so trying to hide their nests and their babies. Since they no longer need to sing loudly to attract a mate, they are quietly raising their young ones.

I saw a great-blue heron this morning--the first I've seen here this year. Roundtop is not exactly prime territory for these birds, so they are uncommon.

I started to walk down the mountain yesterday and into the valley between the mountains but gave it up. It's still too muddy down there to make a walk enjoyable. My hiking shoes have only just properly dried out after the rain event of last week. Perhaps next weekend.

And for my rant of the day: I swear that every day there's a possibility of seeing aurora borealis this far south, it turns out to be rainy or cloudy. It almost seems like a rule: If there's a geomagnetic storm, I will have 100% cloud cover. And so it was this weekend.