I am sure you have noticed how an ordinary looking teenager suddenly changes into someone you want to look at again and again. I call it their time of beauty and that is what is happening in the Back 40. Just after that heavy rain the field is polka-dotted with lacy white flowers, clumps of bright yellow Tansy and lots of Joe Pye Weed in different shades of pink, many taller than I. So I don’t need beseeching looks from my little dog to get us out for our late afternoon stroll. (I choose this time of day as the colors are stronger in the late afternoon sun.)

Our colorful orange and black Orioles and their numerous and clamorous young have gone and I have told the Catbirds that I am no longer feeding them grape jelly as they drop the remains on my deck and cushions. We haven’t filled the big feeder so no bright Cardinals or Blue Jays yet. First we have to foil the big fat raccoon as a trap isn’t working. Tree swallows are visiting for short, swirling insect hunts and I hope won’t be gathering on the telephone wires soon as that is a sure sign of  coming fall.

The last of our sweet scented vines and shrubs is blooming now, so if you drive through a shady damp area and you smell something sweet that is Clethra, or sweet pepper bush. Enjoy it and all that goes with summer days.

Sidney Tynan

Little Compton