Really!

Shown here is the site for three family camp-outs. But the last weekend of June is apparently not the ideal time for such a gathering. It stormed or rained each of the three years they were held. Tents were set up in the garage one year due to inclement weather. Every cough, sneeze, and hiccup echoed throughout the building. Oh, yes. . . the tree shown in this photo comes to life at full moon. Really. (I chose not to share this information with the campers.)

This photo shows cattails; the tall leafless stalks with the clumps on the ends. Their seeds are a popular food for many migrating marsh birds, including blackbirds. They are hermaphroditic, which means that the male and female plant parts grow on the same plant. The familiar brown cylinder that appears during summer is the female "part." The male "part" is a three to six inch stalk covered with tiny brown flowerets.

I was supposed to be doing yard work when I took this video today but the dog had an unusually long face so we made a couple trips to the creek that divides the back acreage. The second trip was for the purpose of taking pictures. Halle had a smile on her face the rest of the day. Really.
Note: Although my husband and I own this property and I make reference to "our creek" in this video, we feel that we are merely keepers of the land, which is a temporary condition. There have been many keepers over the years and there will be many more in the coming years. We believe it is important to respect the land so future generations will enjoy it as we have the past twenty five years.