I had intended to photograph the full moon last night when it was over my pond, but I didn’t feel like donating blood to the mosquitoes to wait that long for the moon to rise high enough, even if it would have been a perfect picture in my mind for the first day of summer because spending time by lake or pond is an image of summer for me.
Summertime Fun by a Pond
When one thinks of the first day of summer, usually a warm sunny day comes to mind and today was a nice sunny day. But this summer solstice, the full moon is taking some of the ‘light’. This month’s full moon lands on the solstice, which most reports say that the last time this had happened was in 1948 and won’t happen again until 2062.
Since the sun is at its highest today, the moon is opposite the sun, so it is rather low on the horizon tonight which causes it to be in the thicker air causing the moon to take on an amber color and therefore is often called Honey Moon. And an amber color was picked up when I set the exposure for the moon but there was some pink clouds under it to be the Strawberry Moon.
The Native American tribes called June’s full moon the Strawberry Moon because it marked the time of year they should gather ripening fruit. I tried picking some wild strawberries while waiting for the moon to rise but the ones I saw a few days ago which weren’t quite ripe were missing so the critters apparently were gathering the berries ahead of me. Other names for the June full moon is Rose Moon and Hot Moon.
Honey or Strawberry Moon Over Daisies
Today is a day when children remember and celebrate the contributions their fathers have made in their lives. Gifts may be given to show their appreciation of their father’s support while growing up, including patience to all those ‘why’ and ‘how does this work’ questions. Fathers may have shown their young sons how to fix things so when they are older, the gift they can give their father on this day is to fix the broken tractor.
Father’s Day
With a few dry days, farmers were busy cutting hay in hopes of getting it baled up without it getting rained on.
Cutting Hay
This evening and tomorrow, the rodeo will be in town and the cowboys and cowgirls will be attempting to win a belt buckle and prize money in the various rodeo events.
Cowboy and Cowgirl
Although still wet from the rain, at least a few blossoms of the wild rose survived after the storm, but many didn’t as lot of pink petals were decorating the ground.
Surviving Wild Roses
This piece of wood looks as washed out after the rains as some of flowers and critters and I know they are looking forward to some sunshine.
Washed Out
There are some areas that might need a boat to get around as more rain is falling again, but this old boat doesn’t look too seaworthy or able to provide much shelter.
Not Seaworthy
Things in nature is often fleeting, like seeing a deer for the few seconds before it disappears into the woods or the tree frog I just saw leaping onto a branch, so if you see something looking pretty, you better grab the camera and not plan to get it later. The peonies were in full bloom yesterday morning and this morning after the rain, the ground is covered in pink and the remaining blossoms look tattered and shaggy.
Blossoms Before the Rain
With some stormy days, the sun may not be seen as it sets but some evenings the range of colors make a splash in the twilight.
Twilight Colors
