Summer Sights

Terra and I were driving home from my sisters' place yesterday after a riding lesson with Laurie when a mama deer and her baby crossed Center Valley Road several hundred feet in front of us.

I grabbed my camera from the back seat, but the pair had disappeared into the woods, so no photo. 

Later, however, while returning from a short photo outing in Selle and Oden, I looked to my left at Del Bader's place and what do you know!  The photo gods had granted me a second chance.  

Another doe and her fawn were standing down in the creek bed and actually waited for me to get my camera. Well, at least, I'd like to think they were accommodating. 

So, on a day that started out with the power going out and the morning routine totally mixed up, things had calmed down enough for a moment of great opportunity. 

It turned out to be a day of laid-back and fun accomplishments:  blueberries and raspberries picked and put in the freezer along with a baggy of huckleberries Bill and I had picked the day before. 

On Monday afternoon, we had started late, only to discover that the spot where several of us family members hardly had to move to fill our buckets or tummies (as the dogs did), there were minimal berries this year!

On that first stop, we walked back to the pickup with four berries in my bucket and one in Bill's.  Bill advised me that he'd better get credit for his contribution.  

He also advised me that maybe if I posted a picture of our five berries, some empathetic soul would feel sorry for us and give us some inside information on just where to find berries this year.  

Wishful thinking, for sure.  People aren't too generous about providing GPS coordinates to their own private huckleberry Heavens.  

We drove on up the road and then took a short hike through an area which had no huckleberry brush but did have a well-polished salt lick, probably put out by hunters to lure elk for fall.

On our way back down the mountain, I asked if we could stop at another turn-out.  We did find berrries and did cover the bottom of one bucket, netting enough for that freezer baggie. 

Twas late in the afternoon, so we headed home. We'll go out again when time allows. 

Anyway, we've got a start on the huckleberries, and yesterday's Lovestead pickings provided good beginnings for the domestic berries. 

Summer is definitely getting into full swing, and maybe the hot weather ahead will give the farmers some better opportunities for getting their hay in without rain damage. 

Terra's mother and I agreed yesterday that this is the peak of BUSYness for us North Idaho residents when it seems like everything happens at once because those few weeks of warm, dry weather flash by SO quickly.

Besides seeing the beautiful doe and fawn late yesterday afternoon, the day was topped off with a bonus phone visit with Annie, who, after walking miles and miles and miles in Europe over the past two weeks, was out walking soon after arriving back to her home in Seattle. 

Before leaving London yesterday morning, she had seen and snapped a photo of the royal family's caravan leaving Kensington Palace. Not a bad start to a long day of flying home from her vacation. 

Twas nice to visit with her about the Camino and her experiences in Scotland and England. 

Meanwhile, back here in North Idaho, it's a beautiful time in a beautiful place, where every day brings unforgettable images of rural life at its best.

Happy Wednesday.