bodner044

Summer - just the word evokes deep memories - devouring still-warm tomatoes from our garden, juice running down my chin; the enticing aroma of hot dogs on the grill; dashing through the sprinkler in the back yard, with bits of cut grass stuck between my toes. Sunset on Whitefish Lake - July 4, 2018 I may be a bit older now, but I still love the traditions of summer, and the boundless opportunities it offers to be outside in Nature's glory.  Here are some warm-weather highlights from July. ONE: PET-SITTING Everybody takes at least a short vacation or summer trip, and so I was delighted to accept my neighbor's request to look after her cat while they went to California for a family wedding.  Isn't Katniss just a darling? TWO: PIE-MAKING It may seem a bit late in the season for rhubarb, but I had a hankering that would not be denied.  Early in the month, we visited a local farmer's market, and I was thrilled to find one stall with massive bunches of rhubarb.  Result: tw...

Clements Mountain with Highline Trail on left-hand-side of photo, with Going to the Sun Road in the middle of the photo Our boots could tell you some tales, we have hiked so much.  And yet, some trails stand out in our memories, the colors still as vivid as on the day itself.  Such is our recollection of the Highline Trail in Glacier National Park, which we hiked on Tuesday, July 11, 2017, along with 100 of our closest friends (read: it's a popular trail). Beargrass and snow on the Garden Wall Although the trail is 11.6 miles one way, you have the option to start at Logan Pass and finish at the Loop, with very little elevation gain.  The trail follows the Continental Divide below the sawtoothed Garden Wall, and since it is above treeline for most of its length, it offers dramatic views of the power of glaciers to sculpt the land.   The day started when we left the house at 6.45 am in order to ensure arrival at the Loop around 8 am.  This in turn was meant to en...

"I wandered lonely as a cloud," mused Spousal Unit (to-be). "What?" I queried. "We learned it in school," he replied.  "You know, William Wordsworth?" "I wandered lonely as a cloud That floats on high o'er vales and hills, When all at once I saw a crowd, A host, of golden daffodils; Beside the lake, beneath the trees, Fluttering and dancing in the breeze." It was 1990, and the first time I had ever been to Grasmere, England.  And my Spousal-Unit-to-be is quoting William Wordsworth.  (Actually, I am not sure he got past the first line.) But ever since, I have been in love with Grasmere, and this is one of the many events that made me fall in love with Spousal Unit.  Of course, it was on the must-see list for my sister and her husband during their visit last summer.  (See ( Part 1 , Part 2 , Part 3 , Part 4 , Part 5 , Part 6 , Part 7 , Part 8 ) for previous posts.) William Wordsworth (1770 -1850) was a major English Romantic poet who ...