The other morning I went out to take a photo of my yellow day lilies blooming in the little circle under our big pine tree in the driveway. Here is the photo I went out to take.

But I saw this,

which of course led to more photos of the spider and its web.

I had actually caught it in the very act of spinning its web. In fact, it was just finishing the job up.

In this photo (and I’m not quite sure why) it looks like its spinning the web in space.

When he got done he just sat in the middle. Waiting. Like, well … a spider for some poor unwitting little bug to come along.

Still waiting.

Quite the thing of beauty in the morning sun.

Two mornings have passed since I took these photos and the web is still there. Looking maybe a little more tattered than the first day, but still in pretty good shape. And the spider? Still waiting.

Tonight is our local fireworks display. We have yet to attend in the six years we’ve lived here. I have to say, right now, it sounds just like the thunderstorm that passed through around 4:00 a.m. this morning. The dogs don’t like it.

Thunder for the reverberation off the mountains and Highlands for where we live. (The high school band/sports teams, etc. are called the Highlanders.)

Previous to the start of the fireworks we were taking advantage of the pool. As you’ve already read here on the blog, we do it au naturel at night.

These were handheld on Program mode because I like the blur.

Maybe it’s because I am getting older and I don’t mind blurriness!

Or maybe it’s because I just like trying to be creative.

(Do you like any of these, and if so, why?)

P. S. DUH! I forgot to add that just before it got dark we were sitting in the cabana and Bella was out with us. Bella started barking and I thought at first she was barking at the dog that I thought I heard barking down the street. Then we heard it. That distinctive snort of a bear. I ran over to where Bella was and could see a bear just over the perimeter of our fence. We called Bella and got her inside so we could access the situation. For sure, a large bear, making protective noises just outside our fence. Momma again? Rick saw her pawing at the tree and when we looked up we could just make out the little Mickey Mouse ears of a cub in the crux of the tree. Probably the same bear, but we backed off and let her be. I guess she likes it around here!

How could I have forgotten about momma bear? Swimming makes me sleepy and forgetful I guess.

Or maybe it has to do with the “getting older” thing I mentioned before????

Tiki torch and cabana lights taken with HNS.

You all probably don’t want to hear this but too bad.

If you have never skinny-dipped you don’t know what you are missing.

Tonight marks the first skinny-dip of the season for me. The water temperature is still a touch chilly at 78F degrees, but the warm evening helped.

Silken water against bare skin.

Tiki torches casting a warm glow.

Three bats (Hurrah!) circling overhead, catching bugs.

Frogs singing in the background.

The occasional lost firefly. (Their season is about over.)

Laps in the pool: the ultimate sleeping aid.

Heaven! Sheer. Naked. Heaven.

Okay, we are going back to Colorado for a day. This old tree lies at the top of our 70 acres. It’s been down a long, long time. I think it was a ponderosa pine but I can’t be certain. There are other living ponderosas that dot this ridge so it would make sense.

You’ve got to admit that in its repose it has a lovely view. If you’re going to fall over you might as well do it right.

If you back up a bit from where the tree lies you would get this view. I took these shots and stitched them together into a panorama. That’s Bull Mountain in the background. The cabin lies kind of mid-photo where you can just see trees sticking up beyond the hill.

The dry climate has weathered the tree to a state of mummification. Its bark and roots have taken on a kind of patina that only years of being exposed to harsh sun and wind can accomplish.

Its mighty roots that once kept it grounded now reach for the sky instead.

Its gnarly branches reach out in supplication.

It is indeed a grand old tree. Even in death it commands respect.

Lawn shadows.

Last night as I lay in bed my head was spinning with a great idea for a blog post. I was literally writing it in my head. I should have gotten up there and then and written it all down because now I have no idea what the idea was. PooF! Dust to dust. Kind of like my brain. Maybe it will come back to me.

This morning it’s only 58 degrees with a chilly breeze and it feels like fall out there! It’s supposed to heat up mid-week (which I hope it does for the pool’s sake) but for now it’s blessedly cool. Yesterday we had a rainy start to the morning with a little over a quarter of an inch of rain and then a few little squalls in the afternoon. I didn’t even bother to close up the house it was so nice.

Back yard with a peek at the pool.

One day this week I am going to try and go to Skylands and see what’s blooming there with my camera and gear. I recently unearthed a macro lens that I didn’t know I had that must be over ten years old. It still works on my new Canon so I want to give it a whirl and see what I can do with it. (I was looking at a beautiful macro lens this weekend at Unique Photo.)

I am a macro girl at heart. I guess since I started out that way taking photos of flowers with a set of screw-on close-up lenses.

Anyway, I am rambling this morning. Sorry!

Here is our dinner on Sunday night: grilled Calamari salad.

It was fresh, bright and delicious. We fried the tentacle bits after dusting them with cornmeal, flour, a pinch of cayenne pepper and some salt. I had some marinara sauce I had made in the freezer, so we thawed that out and used it as a dip.

I can see many of you out there wrinkling up your noses at the crunchy tentacles, but hey, honestly you should give it a try. They are the best part!

I can’t wait for dinner tonight as we bought a big bag of fresh peas at the farmer’s market this weekend. Peas! A seasonal treat that I thought we had missed out on this year. We’re adding them to a lemon-sauced fettuccine.

Good grief, it’s too early to have food on the brain!

But maybe my brain needs food so it can remember what I was really going to blog about this morning!