Lazy Susans in the sun
I’ve walked this path over the years–so familiar, and yet today I noticed flowers, many planted with deliberation, but so many others volunteering their presence in the neighborhood. As I walked with my camera, I brought you along, hoping to capture and share even a taste of the color I found scattered along the way.
Tiny yellow flowers some would call weeds add color on my walk
The cool of the morning drew me outside. The sun will soon bear down and heat up the air, welcome warmth for many, but less welcome for one who is unable to sweat. In years past I walked along this lake almost every day, my refuge as I sought healing from unrelenting seizures. Today I headed out, an unplanned outing yet a chance to stretch muscles that have been confined as my foot heals from a freak injury. A spider bite last spring left my foot swollen and badly infected throughout the summer, making walking difficult if not impossible.
Blue and white morning glories
Morning glories crept near the road, a sprawling ground cover of green, whites, and blues.
Morning glories headed upward on the telephone pole
More morning glories clung to a telephone pole, winding their way heavenward.
Cosmos blossoms nearly done for the summer
Cosmos neared the end of their lives.
Grasses sprouting blossoms
Grasses sprouted their seeds along a fence. Lazy susans opened to the morning sun.
Carefully cultivated color
Some of my neighbors have carefully tended gardens–I peeked at their plantings, grateful for the work they put into sharing color along my way.
A single impatiens blossom
One neighbor turned her flower bed into a vegetable garden filled with blossoms that will provide summer salads.
Zinnia among the cucumbers
I smiled at the zinnia blooming so proudly amidst the cucumber blossoms.
Masses of water lilies fill one end of Silver Lake
Near the end of the road I spied water lily flowers covering the surface of the lake.
Purple loosestrife, with a tiny sliver of moon reflecting on the water
Closer to the shore were purple loosestrife–invasive weeds, but color, nonetheless. In angling the camera to get a photo of the loosestrife I caught a glimpse of the moon not yet set, reflecting ever so slightly on the surface of the water.
Flowers blossom, despite their lack of care
Some yards in the neighborhood have gotten little attention as they transition from one owner to the next.
Forgotten silk flowers wait to be cleaned and replaced by a new owner
Flowers still bloom, or grow faded and worn, their colors derived from plastic or silk.
I was rewarded with the sight of a double-crested cormorant soaring in to land in the lake. It quickly set to work diving for its breakfast.
Geese taking off
Geese called and came flying in to settle. They stayed for a only a short while, then flew off, hoping for something different.
A touch of fall color on a summer’s day
Soon enough the sun warmed the air and I headed for home, grateful for shelter, for a cool place to be in the summer heat, and for late summer color. Fall is just around the corner, and for me, it can’t come soon enough!
Marjorie Turner Hollman is a writer who loves the outdoors, and is the author of Easy Walks in Massachusetts, 2nd edition, More Easy Walks in Massachusetts, 2nd edition, Easy Walks and Paddles in the Ten Mile River Watershed, and Finding Easy Walks Wherever You Are. Her memoir, the backstory of Easy Walks, is My Liturgy of Easy Walks: Reclaiming hope in a world turned upside down.
Marjorie Turner Hollman 
great minds think alike. although i bet your hike was conspicuously devoid of whining.
Hah! Very little whining. Complaining, sure, but no whining 🙂