Perhaps I’m taking a risk by speaking too soon, but it is of note that this summer (so far) there has been a marked absence of mosquitos here. Of course there have been a few around The Urban Porch, and I’ve not totally escaped the attention of one or two, but being a Mosquito Magnet, the lack of encounters has been rather remarkable and seriously enjoyable. The last few months have provided us with plenty of steamy, wet days, ample rain and standing water that usually facilitates their presence, which has everyone wondering what’s going on. Last summer you could not even stop on the sidewalk to speak to a neighbor in the evening without being bombarded, as we waved them away and slapped ourselves between sentences, finally needing to cut our conversations short and retreat to our homes.

I admit it has been rather delightful to be able to sit outside, but also raises questions about what is occurring in the environment. Perhaps it is just a natural cycle – if so, a welcome one. Someone mentioned to me that a lot more birds have been around lately – maybe getting their protein from the mosquitos? If so, eat heartily my feathered friends! Speaking of Jerks of the Insect World, the aggressive and nasty yellow jackets also have not made their incessant appearance on the porch. I qualify that with a “yet”. It’s only the beginning of August. But one can hope….

Other local observations in the universe of phylum Arthropoda – the fireflies have completed their sparkling dances and are no longer twinkling by the front steps. They have been replaced by a varying nighttime chorus of katydids and crickets, loudly announcing that the days of summer are slipping by.

Here we segue further into feathered friends and moving on; the few crows who stood daily watch from The Crow Tree and flew back and forth tending their nests have vacated the area. We would observe each other daily – I from my porch and they from their perches. I was not feeding them, yet there seemed to be some sort of acknowledgement of each other. The day after they departed, I found a feather and one shiny quarter placed together on the front lawn. It might just be a coincidence, a dropped coin from the pocket of a passerby, a fallen feather….but it’s nice to imagine it could be a gift. Farewell! Hope to see you again next year!

In a rare and spectacular experience, a few days ago I happened to be on a beach in Rhode Island with my family and encountered a delightful swarm/migration of dragonflies. At first there were a few gray and iridescent blue ones alighting and quickly taking off from the backs of the chairs as we were eating lunch. “Oh, look how cool!” Soon there seemed to be enough to really take notice as they zoomed around in no discernable direction. “Wonder what’s going on?” The playground scene of Alfred Hitchcock’s The Birds flashed in my mind, not of horror, but just in the way they slowly accumulated from few to more. As my sister and I took a walk south along the shoreline, their numbers increased, until we came to a jetty where they were everywhere – little incoming helicopters in the sky.

It was impressive how they did not crash into each other (or us) at all, but milled about in a crazy dance.

“Are you going to video this?” my sister asked. But I declined, just wanting to be in it for the moment. They didn’t stay for very long, quickly moving on to wherever they were headed, only a few stragglers remaining. It felt rather magical, another gift of nature.

Off the Insecta observations and onto Flora tales…..it started when small dog Rudi rolled in something awful. He’s like that, will find the tiniest nothing in the grass, a dead worm, some old animal scat, a greasy, visibly undetectable but putrid spot, and in pure wriggling delight will quickly drop and roll in it. It was so bad that everything he came in contact with became contaminated with that stench, including the car and my clothing. So before coming back inside he needed to be washed outdoors using the garden hose stowed behind a border of lilies on the side of the house we were staying at.

I had forgotten how much the pollen smudges when you brush against them.

After finishing the dog bath, I discovered my clothing and skin were covered with a deep saffron stain that did not easily wipe off. At first I thought it was just me typically dropping lunch on myself, as I’m known for that. But it turned out to be lily pollen.

There was also a lily patch next to the driveway that was very near to where you tightly parked. At first nobody noticed that upon opening the door and entering your vehicle, they seemed to almost reach out as you squeezed by, anointing you with their bright kesari glory. No matter how carefully you tried to give them some berth, there was no avoiding Close Encounters of the Lily Kind.

We tried inching sideways to be able to get in the car door, but no matter how careful we were, there was no escaping The Attack of the Lilies. I will share that with treatment, the stain did come out in the wash.

Onward to the Fauna of late July and early August – looking through the screen door, a doe vacuums down multiple pom-poms of hydrangea flowers with gusto.

She brings her fawns with her. There are actually three, frolicking in and out from the depths of the bushes while mom browses.

Cardinal lends pops of color and song on a branch above –

and alert bunnies pause in frozen stillness on the lawn. Say it with me – “Bunny, bunny, bunny!”

There is beautiful light above the hills –

patterns in the trees above –

contrasts in texture and color –

design and sparkle in the water –

Incoming in the sky. Incoming August…..

~*~