Any questions about why we love summer in Wisconsin?

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I took this photo along our rustic roadside on the way to town. It seems every time I meander these three miles, I discover a new wildflower bursting with color.

The lilac season is nearly over, but looking at this photo, I can almost conjure their beautiful scent. It reminds me of cotton candy. Our neighbor at the cabin has the white variety and some days when the breeze is just right, I’ll catch a whiff of these amazing domestic flowers, from yards away. It’s like opening a present. I can’t think about anything else, during the moment the fragrance overwhelms my nose.

My appreciation for flowers has changed throughout the years — along with many other things. Priorities constantly shift and in recent years it seems for me there’s more space for simple gifts.

Fresh flowers. As a child I picked them. For years I ignored them. Now I photograph them. And one day I’ll learn all their names.

Each weekend I share moments that help me journey toward occasional “presence” — explained in A New Earth — to appreciate the small gifts life brings. This post is also a part of Fussy’s Happiness Project every Thursday.

We went for a boat ride and I took my camera, hoping to capture the loon family that surely had a baby by now. My husband took us all around the lake and finally into the back bay where we’d most likely find the pair.

I spotted them right away and he turned and slowed the boat, switching off the motor so we could coast closer without making noise. As I watched and snapped away, I considered our good fortune to not have startled the birds. They barely moved as we drifted closer, save for their effortless circling in the water and the rotation of their majestic heads.

At this time of year, it is difficult to determine which of these loons is the male and which is the female, but each will care for the young loon and carry the baby on his or her back until it learns to swim. The massive size of the adult repels the Northern Pike that wouldn’t hesitate to swallow a baby in one fell swoosh.

Although the loons allowed us to drift closer, their eyes were watchful, and our silence allowed us to hear their tell-tale call, but in a gentler tone than we usually hear across the lake. They were talking to each other. We watched their mouths open and their necks move slightly, but the sound they generated came almost effortlessly. And an even softer sound reached our ears as well — that of the baby. It was learning to make the call too.

I’m awed by the tranquility shown by these birds — a peaceful family gliding through the water together. I feel so completely opposite of that most of the time, with busy schedules and not-always-even temperaments. But on this evening, we all floated together next to this family, just as quietly. And we were there because my usually-hurried husband stopped so I could take photographs. Small gifts.

Happy Father’s Day!

Each weekend I share moments that help me journey toward occasional “presence” — explained in A New Earth — to appreciate the small gifts life brings. This post is also a part of Fussy’s Happiness Project every Thursday.

Have a great weekend!!

I did a fun photo shoot with Darla and her best friend, Anna. This relationship was one of the most excellent byproducts of our homeschool experiment, and the girls had no problem hamming it up for the camera.

See what I mean? They were royalty…

And cover girls.

Neither of which is easy to pull off in snowpants and mittens.

…which leads to the inevitable snowfight.

Where one vows to give the other a face wash.

And they get mad at each other.

Yeah right.

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