Summer mountain morning

Nell's Hill

I have posted photos of this view before in winter and in fall--it's the western view from my cabin--though I'm not sure I've ever posted the view in summer.  Today I am rectifying that oversight.  The cleared area in the foreground is an abandoned ski slope.  Since the slope faces west, it didn't hold snow well--got too much sun even in winter. So Roundtop finally gave up trying to keep snow on it. But they still mow the old slope a couple of times each summer, to make access to the snowmaking pond down at the bottom of the mountain easier.

This morning the humidity was low and the sky clear.  The days are already getting noticeably shorter. The shadows are long at 7:15 in the morning, so while the eastern face of Nell's Hill was sunlit, the western side of Roundtop Mountain wasn't. I liked the effect of the dark foreground and the mountain in the distance.

This morning, Dog, Baby Dog and I all saw a fox and a deer--not together.  The excitement that generated in two large dogs is almost more than I can handle. Dog was more interested in the fox than Baby Dog was. I'm not sure she knew what it was until we got close enough for her to catch its scent.  All three of us saw the deer at the same time. It's that same doe that I see once or twice each day.  It's well-habituated to humans and tends not to bolt the instant she sees one of us.  Of course, that's too much for the dogs, to have a deer standing in front of them twitching her tail.  My arm muscles are still hurting from trying to hold them back.

It is and it feels like midsummer here on the mountain.  Some of the wildflowers and weeds are already going to seed. Last night I heard a few cicadas for the first time this year--it's not going to be one of their big years, which is fine by me. When they are out in force, people can't hold a conversation outside without raising their voices. 

For the moment, the weather is giving me a respite from heat and humidity.  The morning was cool, the night before pleasant for sleeping with the windows wide open. All of summer's days should be like this, with a few, occasional breaks for needed rain. I can only dream of that and try to keep these days in mind once the heat and humidity return.