Summer Fun at Bald Eagle State Park

Summer afternoon - summer afternoon; to me those have always been the two most beautiful words in the English language. - Henry James.

It was one of my famous Freedom Fridays, and the weather looked inviting, so we headed out for a summer day's adventures. We had talked about driving to destinations further away, but in the end, neither of us felt like doing that. So we spent the afternoon at Bald Eagle State Park.

I took my camera along, of course, and documented the cloud show, which was fantastic. The sandy beach was not very crowded, and there were people in the water and on boats. A woman under a stripey green umbrella stood up and dandled a baby. Some guy was showing off, doing circles and figure eights on a jet ski not far from the swim area.

We had managed to snag a shady spot, which is important on such an afternoon. For I do enjoy lots of things about summer, but sitting in the actual hot baking afternoon sun - no, I do not like that at all. So from our shady spot, we surveyed the area, then went in and swam a while.

When we were done with our swim, we got in the car and headed to a shady area we know not far away. We each had a cold drink and I walked down a little well-mown path to the lake, where I encountered many wildflowers and a few butterflies.

The first butterfly I saw was a variety of hairstreak, and you may see a photo of it in the extras. It is much darker than the gray ones I have usually seen. In looking it up, my best guess is banded hairstreak, though I could very well be wrong. Do you see the tiny red hearts at the very back of its wings?

I saw another huge black butterfly, but at first I thought it might be some other kind of bug. For its wings were tattered and worn and faded, and its flight pattern was ungainly. "Hello, beautiful!" I said softly to it, for every butterfly is indeed beautiful, even the tattered ones. I did not get a photo.

And so it was more or less a quintessential summer day, full of sunshine and interesting clouds, and wildlfowers, and butterflies. And people had fun, and swam, and picknicked; and on the beach, couples clasped each other on blankets, and the babies never cried. No, nobody cried, on a perfect summer afternoon.

The soundtrack song is for my little butterfly friend in the extras, and the special, secret red hearts on its wings. The song is Roxette, with Listen to Your Heart.