Staying cool and heading to camp................

We didn't stray far from home last week.  The 'dog days of Summer' continue relentlessly.  No waiting for August, they've been here since June this year!  Better to share a cool spot inside away from the oppressive heat, the humidity, and biting bugs on their search for moisture on human skin.  The parched crisp grass is no place for barefoot wandering......its bright green blades now turned to ochre spikes.

The early morning garden shows a ray of hope.......will it be cooler today?  Soon the 'glories' fade as temperatures climb and the blooms fold inward, enclosing the cool blues and purples until tomorrow when fresh ones awake at dawn.

Taking the camera outside these mornings means instant veiled shots as heat and moisture cloud the lens.....no filter required.

While the birds clamber aboard the feeders seeming more ravenous than ever, the gentle butterflies and moths alight on the moist flowers to drink........... 

..............and still the roses bloom between the now faded and baked hydrangeas, opening their petal layers for just a day or so before they too shrivel along their edges, turning old and withered before their time.

This week Jasmin is not here.  Recently we've been sharing the dining room table, using our laptops to look for 'cool things' and watching nature struggle in the heat outside the window. She's off on her annual Summer camp week with friends old and new.  Swimming in the lake and pool, singing and performing skits around the evening fire pit, trying archery this year, perhaps playing volleyball again.  No laptop, iPad, cell phone, television........just good old fashioned outdoor fun.........which all kids need.
"Have a fabulous time Jasmin, I'll be waiting to hear all about it next week".