Excitement

As many of you know, my DBF Jon is an amateur birding enthusiast. Last weekend, he asked if I wanted to accompany him on a search for a yellow-crowned night heron, a bird that is apparently unusual in our part of the world (northern Illinois). After I agreed, he told me we'd have about a two hour drive to a certain park to see this fine fellow. It's possible, he said, that the bird might not even be there any more, although numerous posts from a bird forum he follows reported sightings all summer.

Off we drove, and you can imagine his excitement when, not five minutes after parking the car, we spotted this beautiful bird. The bird seemed rather calm and we were able to cautiously approach and take several photos. The bird doesn't look too excited, but we were, at our success.

After our bird outing, we switched gears and drove to a Fry's Electronics - MY idea of excitement!

Outdoors

My DBF Jon and I both love live theater, and one summer tradition is to head north into Spring Green Wisconsin to take in 2-3 outdoor productions at American Players Theatre. They began as a Shakespeare company, but over the years have added plays by playwrights such as Shaw and, in the case of this show, Edna Ferber. This is the set for The Royal Family, a comedy that, according to the playbill, was loosely patterned after the life of the Barrymore family. The trees through the set windows are real, and after the sun goes down, we are often treated to bats flying through the scene. :-)

Remember

Many of you may recognize, or remember, the name Frank Lloyd Wright. A renowned architect, one of his homes is located in Spring Green, Wisconsin. We took a tour there, and I enjoyed this sweep of steps leading up to a grand patio overlooking the Wisconsin River Valley on which the home is built. On the patio, it's easy to remember simpler times, lazy summer days, and the gifts of a man who left so many lovely architectural structures as his legacy.

Rural

Not too far from my home, the world transitions from suburban to rural. Caught this handsome fellow on my way home from a recent hike.