I’ve been hiking recently. Taking to steep narrow trails, foot trails, avoiding folks and heading up valleys at the end of the day. Arriving back home at or just after dark, I finish each day with the smell of dirt and cedar. And my sweat.
Early in my days in the mountains, my benchmark for summer’s arrival became the appearance of Indian Paintbrush. Not the full blown–the kid dipped the brush to the handle into the can–paintbrush. Simply a few sprigs a foot high with a blush of color, I feel summer’s arrived and the believe.
In the last week, the high valley meadows show a hint of red in the tops of the stalks. Only a hint and only the red. There are mountain bluebells. The salmon berries (or are they thimble berries?) are in full bloom. In the hollows, where seeps keep the ground moist all summer, wild roses bloom.
Summer is here.
A dusting on the ridges. A chill in town. A day of rain.
Nothing
Summer still reigns.
No comments
Comments feed for this article
Trackback link
http://fernieblogs.com/offthestreet/2007/06/25/summer%e2%80%99s-here/trackback/