Airbender

There shall be eternal summer in the grateful heart. - Celia Thaxter.

It was the July 4th holiday this past Saturday. And at the University where I work, when the actual holiday falls on a Saturday, we get a floating holiday to use anytime after that weekend. And so on this day, I claimed my July 4th holiday and went on an outdoor adventure!

But we wouldn't want to start our adventure on an empty stomach, now, would we? No, of course not. So we began our day with a hearty breakfast at Eat 'n Park. My lovely hot breakfast (bacon, eggs, hash browns, and toast) is featured in the extra photos area.

I had intended to treat my husband to a breakfast out for his recent birthday, but we had not gotten around to that yet. And so when I mentioned this to the server, she surprised my husband by bringing a warm sticky bun with ice cream (not pictured) to celebrate! (Yes, of course, I had a bite or two, just to humor him . . . )

And then, on to Bald Eagle State Park for a leisurely swim. The water was just a bit cooler than it usually is this time of year, but still it was MUCH warmer than our recent swim at Whipple Dam. The park was not crowded at all, there were some Plain Folks out and about, and I had great fun people watching.

I saw many interesting sights but the one that gave me the biggest smile was a tiny little barefoot girl (see extra photos) having a grand time, slopping in the mud puddles. Ah, the joys of summer. Is there anything more fun than a good mud puddle? (And now I remember why my mother used to make all of us barefoot girls wash our feet on a summer's evening before getting into bed!)

It was a hot day; actually, a bit too hot in the sun. But in the breeze, in the shade beneath a tree, things were rather comfortable. We had a good swim and hung out in the shade and read our books, and I chased a butterfly or two through wildflower meadows with my camera before heading home.

Upon arriving home, I checked the online weather radar to discover what looked like a swiftly advancing line of storms. So we went outside and moved a few things around: took down the hanging planters and grabbed the green peppers in their big pot, and tucked them all under the overhang of the house for safe keeping. (We've been doing this a lot this summer, as we get pouring-down rains and thunderstorms nearly every single day.)

Oh, and I have news on the sleepy squirrel from the other day (see the extra photos area of my July 5th blip for prior pictures of the squirrel). You may remember that we were puzzled to discover a squirrel napping on the deck railing. Well, we now know that the squirrel is a SHE and we know why she's behaving strangely!

In early evening, we looked out to see the squirrel (the same one, we presume, that we saw napping the other day, but of course we could be wrong!) begin frantically building a nest of leaves in the nook of a tree near the deck. To be more specific, in my hero tree, the one that caught - and held - a whole bunch of other trees that fell that one time in an ice storm, the very first winter after I bought the house.

The squirrel scurried hither and yon, chopping off big leafy branches and attempting to assemble them into (what we presume to be) a nest for baby squirrels. "Everybody on this acre is pregnant EXCEPT YOU!" my husband announced, as we watched the squirrel's progress. Dear reader, as I am currently at the age of 50 AND A HALF (as my little niece might say), most assuredly we are NOT HEADING IN THAT DIRECTION!!!

And then - as the storms held off a bit - my husband went visiting in the yard with the rabbit. And he came back in and cajoled me: "You need to come out and spend some time with your butterfly garden. It may never look as beautiful as it does RIGHT NOW!" And so I went. And what a treat I was afforded, for he was right, it WAS beautiful. While he sat with the bunny in the front yard, the hummingbirds arrived in the backyard and put on quite a show for me!

I must tell you now that I think of the hummingbirds as airbenders. For that is exactly what they seem to do. They swoop, they flit, they fly, bullet-style, fast and furious. They feast on the heady red monarda, lovingly visiting every single bloom.

They hover, they spin, they charge, they dance. They chase each other in crazy maneuvers that stun and delight. The winds of heaven seem to part for them; I can only surmise that there must be magic involved!

Ah, friends, these are the many pleasures of a summer day: eating a tasty meal, having a good swim, spending a bit of leisure time with one I love, watching some animal highjinks, and in the end, enjoying an evening's magic of airbenders cavorting on the soft summer breezes.

The song to accompany this image of a female hummingbird dancing on air is from the Dirty Dancing film's soundtrack: Patrick Swayze, with She's Like the Wind.