"I can see clearly now the rain is gone..."

Wow! I thought we had a lot of rain earlier in the month, but yesterday took the cake. I was working from home and one minute it would lighten up and be peaceful and the very next the skies would darken and dump tropical rains on flora and fauna...so thick I could not see beyond the front lawn.
I was concerned about the ponds over topping the culverts. This would under mind our crossing and potentially cause serious problems.

The beginning of the week temperatures had soared in the mid 90's, leaving us all feeling faint and irritable when in non-air conditioned places. Here at Beatitude Pond we rely on Mother Nature to cool us down. Fire flies have been illuminating the nights, rain or shine. Meanwhile states in the West continue to experience record high temperatures. Everyone there is suffering.

Recent wildlife sightings:

Another turtle (painted turtle) attempting to lay eggs in a nest she dug on the crossing....she dug several holes.
A hawk drying her feathers off after a rainstorm high up in a tree.
A bullfrog, awaiting prey, perfectly still on a log, except for its breathing (on close inspection).
A wood duck.
Blue admiral butterflies taking their turns eating salt on the driveway.

June Monsoons

The first part of June we had quite a bit of rain...not warm rain, but cold rain, which didn't do much for some of the vegetables we are trying to grow (like squash, pumpkins and cucumbers). Carrots, lettuce, peas and onions are doing pretty well, though.

The Western states have been in drought.

Wild life continues to abound by the ponds:

today...spotted a mangy looking coyote on the path down to the waterfall...Lindley saw him
last week Lindley say a snapping turtle covering her nest on the crossing. We are keeping an eye on her nest.
I saw the mallard duck with three offspring walking across the crossing. We have since seen her swimming with them on the lower and beaver ponds.
We saw Northern Strikes trying to mate.

• Lots of ant hills everywhere - lawn and driveway.
• Swallows
• Cedar waxwings
• A lone turkey hen wandering in the front yard for a couple of days.
• A big garter snake moving slowly across the driveway in the sun.
• The beaver crawling up a  large boulder by the driveway (an amusing sight)

Now it's the first day of summer and feeling quite summer like. It's been dry now for the last few days. Squash finally beginning to perk up.