green ground is back

early morning pond walk

surface still icy slush

nest built in bittersweet tangle

stuck in the mud

of course the day started with a heart-shaped chunk of firewood...

photos never perfectly capture what transpired in reality - as we walked along, the shadows in the imprints left by deer tracks looked like a trail of hearts in the snow:

winking fungus among us

warmer temperatures (in the mid 50s!) revealed much green around the yard:

and squirrel nut stashes:

grey day

sleety rain falling

bittersweet

the name is so apt for this time of year

cat tail arabesque

lunch at the back door of the barn (upstairs)

my sister's own home-made carrot soup - she adds chili powder, which gives it the perfect flavor dimension for fall - ohh, Sparky wants some

yellow carpet of walnut leaves below:

where wildflowers thrive

these light purple blossoms are all over here this year - I don't know what they're called, but they look just like the red blossoms in my perennial garden that we call "bee balm" - perhaps these are a wild variety?
{update: I've learned it's called wild bergamot}

where water whispers

where deer sleep

yup, it's officially the first day of summer