Tuesday, June 26, 2007

Walking through the Meadow Early in the Morning


I could sleep late this week.

But the sun is up early of a summer morn.
And the cool of the night is still over the meadow. And in the meadow, the flora is burgeoning and blooming.

Staying in bed is just not an option with beauty like this just out of the door.
So I rise with the sun and walk with the dogs in the meadow--early in the morning.




The wildflowers look new and fresh--and very tall--in early morning.

Here is yellow sweet clover and purple "pinks" abloom where the road meets the meadow path.

The wet spring has given us an abundance of tall grasses and wildflowers, early summer blossoms.









And now at mid-summer, the grasses are flower in the meadow.

The morning sun slanting on the grass flowers makes them pale gold against the green of the grass stalks.








Here are yellow asters blooming in the rocky soil just where the meadow path intersects the forest trail.

They are in the sun, but the path is still in the long shadow of the ridge behind.

Although these asters are now in the bloom, the New Mexico sunflowers are not yet in bud. The stalks are growing, but they flower later in the summer.

Coming 'round to the house by the forest path, we get to pass by the Mexican Lilacs blooming in the dooryard.

Growing up in Illiniois, I loved the lilacs that bloomed in April and May next to my window. They had a wonderful, strong lilac scent that lasted only a few weeks.

The Mexican Lilacs bloom from mid-summer until fall. They have a more delicate lilac scent that lasts all summer. As the day progresses, the dooryard will hum with the activity of bees coming for lilac nectar. But in the early morning, the dooryard is quiet, waiting.

After our early morning meadow walk, the rest of the day is almost an anticlimax.

I can't imagine sleeping late and missing the cool freshness of the meadow in early morning.

On these summer morns, I come to breakfast with a heart full of wonder and graditude. I am so fortunate to be alive one more day to see the great sights of life around me, to feel the cool morning breeze off the mountain, and to hear the morning greetings of the birds.


4 comments:

Amie said...

I love lilacs, I wish we had that long of a lilac season.

Melora said...

Thank you for taking your camera this morning! What beautiful pictures.
The Mexican Lilacs remind me of our butterfly bushes. I love those long purple flowers!

Admin said...

What beautiful flowers, Elisheva. I love lilacs too. We have a bush of purple lilacs that bloom for a couple of months in early summer. Then the almost wild roses bloom and perfume the air. (They're blooming now.) All summer, we have daisies, blackeyed susans, vetch, clover, hawkweed and blue-eyed grass. Everything seems to know how short the season is in Maine, so it grows at a furious pace from spring on, bursts into bloom and then keeps blooming until the frost hits it in August or September. Maine is so damp, such a contrast to where you are. I love to look at what grows in your backyard.
Shine On,
Lill

Elisheva Hannah Levin said...

It is lovely isn't it? I am loving summer this year. Lill, what is amazing is that it looks dry to you, but to us it is positively damp!