**Early Summer in NY**

It is lunchtime and I am poking around the net. I have found a live videocam of Old Faithful geyser and am watching as it is about to erupt. Skies are clear, brilliant blue. I have sat there many times watching this very scene. Wish I was there.

I am VERY slowly going through photographs taken this summer (including Australia). I found some pictures (... there goes Old Faithful....!) of the house after returning from a month of travel. When I left there were the leaves were just emerging on the trees. The bulbs were blooming and the grass was cut just before leaving (barely needed it but we wanted to try the new tractor).

This is what I cam home to:



A jungle. Beautiful, but nevertheless.

We have never had to water once this summer. We have been told it is an unusually wet summer - mostly torrential downpours each day and then nice weather around it. But everything is so lush here.... Did I mention, things grow quickly?

We decided to leave the back 4 acres or so natural and the local flora and fauna have moved in quickly. The tall grasses, conifers and maple are home to all sorts of birds. We see them at our feeders next to the porch. There are the same feeders that attracted a local bear about a month ago. Still waiting on the cell phone picture taken by a friend of E.'s when they came home and interrupted the bear's seedfest.

The field also is growing all sorts of wildflowers, wild rasberries and strawberries. We are thinking if we become survivalists, we might just be about to graze the land during the summer months and do quite well.