There are several unmistakable signs regarding summer.
First, the hummingbirds arrive and set up housekeeping. We call summer time “hummingbird season.” The unmistakable sign that summer is here are the baby birds bombing around the house. Like these two, for example.
Baby Rufous Hummingbirds, both keeping a beady eye on the photographer standing between them and the feeders on the front porch.
These two managed to sit still long enough for me to attempt to focus on them. They are so tiny, I didn’t really manage it. Cute little guys!!!
Perky, as ever. Looking at me and his little friend up to the left of him in the bush.
He's puffing up, ready to explode if I don't move off the porch soon!
Another unmistakable sign of summer is…
Peaches!!!!!!! A whole flat of them to play with - heaven.
Yesterday we went to our favorite fruit stand, about an hour and a half from here. We picked up peaches, several zucchini, a couple of sweet Walla Walla yellow onions, a watermelon, four ears of corn (lunch today), and a few pounds of sweet Queen Anne cherries.
And the third unmistakable sign of summer is …
Smoke from a forest fire.
This fire is 100 miles from us, to the northwest, and started mid afternoon yesterday. It is over 1200 acres now, 9 homes and buildings have been lost and hundreds more are in danger; 15,000 people were evacuated yesterday. They are fighting this like crazy, but if the winds pick up, they won’t have much, if any, chance of stopping it. The forecast is for extremely hot and dry conditions for the next week or so.
Makes me nervous, but we’ll stick close to home now until the fall rains return.
Yesterday morning, Dan woke me to tell me that Mishkin had a mouse and was being a brat about giving it up. Scenario:
Mishkin looks up and sees Dan, says to his playmate: “Cheese it! It’s the cops!” Picks up his toy mouse and scampers upstairs.
Dan picks up leather glove and awakens innocently sleeping wife.
Wife wakes up, more or less, gets dressed and heads upstairs, glove in hand, to see what their furry child has done with the mouse.
Mishkin standing in his bedroom doorway, looking as if butter wouldn’t melt his his mouth (I hear butter coated mice are delicious), turns around and runs to a stack of videos in a shelf, drops the mouse and says, “Quick, hide in here, she’ll never find you.”
Wife starts moving videos while Mish prowls around her ankles, attempting distraction. Mouse scampers out of shelf when enough cover has been removed, and dives into stack of videos at wife’s feet. But, wife is now awake and snatches up the mouse.
Mishkin wasn’t paying attention at that moment and missed entire mouse-napping.
Wife carries mouse-in-glove outside and tosses into bushes. Mishkin spends rest of the day looking for “The One That Got Away: It was THISSSSSSSS big.”
Hell of a way to start my morning 🙂
Yesterday I also observed several feeding styles of Snowshoe Hare. We had three in the front yard demonstrating their technique. There is the nibble daintily, then wash paws and whiskers thoroughly, and take another nibble or two; repeat.
There is the lawn mower method, albeit a very slow mower; move in a straight line across the grass and don’t stop until you run into something non-edible.
There is the stand straight up and get the high stuff method; standing at the end of a patch of tall grass, pluck one piece from the ground, insert into mouth and start munching until entire stalk disappears, and then repeat.
A yard full of Snowshoe Hares munching things is another sign of summer.
Yesterday evening we had a fawn running races around the house, flat out as fast as he could move. They look just hilarious when they are doing that, such beautiful little creatures.
So, all the signs are here and summer has arrived. It’s official!
Now that’s entertainment! Who could ask for more!!!