Spring evenings

The end of spring semester is filled with a flurry of activity:  school programs, wrapping things up, and final interpretive responsibilities.  I'm fortunate to have summers 'off' now, being a 9-month faculty member instead of a 12-month one - having 'converted' 3 years ago. 

It means I try not to have many 'work' responsibilities in the summer, but it doesn't mean I stop learning about nature (and enjoying nature), or learning about gardening (and enjoying it).

The kids in recent (Garden) programs have enjoyed observing the numerous black swallowtail caterpillars in the Ethnobotany Garden (part of the Children's Garden).  Way cool!  And the young praying mantises, grasshoppers, lady bird beetles, Northern banded water snakes, Carolina wrens, etc. that we've discovered, I hope have just encouraged their interest in the natural world.

Pipevine swallowtail on a Zinnia flower

But I wanted to make note of how the evenings in April and May this year have been lovely  - cool, relatively low humidity, and lush.  Yes, it was up to 87°F this afternoon, but it started out cool, and now in early evening, the temperatures are moderate again.

And the delights of summer (as well as sultry heat) are around the corner.

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Another lovely evening

The light was wonderful this evening, and a hint of coolness was welcome, as we move towards summer.

The 'side yard' was lovely,

as was the view down the driveway.

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Evening view

We've been glad of the rain lately (our drought status has been significantly downgraded, hooray!) But, having warm sunny spring days is always uplifting.


We eat our dinner (and lunch on the weekends) out on the porch. The light this evening was beautiful.


And the view from my study window was lovely, too. I'm always reminded that it didn't always look pleasing, and we're grateful for the transformation.

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