The most wonderful time of the year

I disagree strongly with whatever Andy Williams was singing about. Late summer is the time for me. In what other season can you start and end your day with fresh strawberry shortcake and throw a few ears of this in between?



And now is when the local wildlife really get hopping. Who knew that the deer twins sound like bleating goats as they wander past my house at two in the morning? Now I do. A hummingbird finally deigned to pay a visit to the feeder that has been ignored for years at a time and then, when I was deadheading cosmos in the garden, one swooped down past my head to get to this:

I knew I saved those tithonia seeds for something. And only in August can I drive to my favorite dark spot north of town to lay on the hood of my car at 12:30 on a Monday morning so that I can stare at the Perseids as we glide through them. Plus, there's three ingredient popsicles to revive you after a ride home in the late-day sun, and tiny toads that magically appear in the garden without warning.

And if you can wake up to these (because you remembered to cut them the night before), your day's bound to be OK.