Lily

I can't stop with the cicadas

On the neighbors' tree

Cicada on Ratibida pinnata

Spiderweb and hoverfly

I don't know why my phone cannot capture the intense blue of the spiderwort.

Asclepias Syria a bloom

Cicadas

Dinner and games

Actual friends at my actual house for dinner and games in person. It's been a long time.

Brood X cicada

Birds

The day's highlights so far: This morning I spent a few minutes watching a flycatcher (Acadian? Willow? Other?) in the back yard. From a distance, they are tiny, gray, and nondescript. Through binoculars, they are super cute, they way they quickly look all around, and move their beaks. I think I saw it eat a wasp, which suits me fine, because I feel like the yard is full of wasps, with more every day.

And I just took a break to walk up around the corner to look at the red shouldered hawks' nest through binoculars. There are juvenile hawks in it, standing, moving around. They look like their parents, but with still-fuzzy heads. It was hard to tell who was an adult and who was juvenile; there are two or three there.

White avens (Geum canadense)

Skink

First sighting of the year

Asclepias syriaca

My common milkweed is popping up all over.

Black cherry seedlings

I have these black cherry seedlings coming up all over, but especially where my maple tree was out front. I guess that's where the birds sat after feasting on the little cherries in the neighbor's tree.

Railroad ink

We played three games of Railroad Ink, and one game of Sushi Go. Plus, a really delicious meal of hamburgers and sweet potato fries.

Railroad Ink

Played 3 games with Jen, then we discovered that the player boards line up to make one long, beautiful illustration.

Early morning, snow

Butterweed

In the neighbor's yard. Despite the name, it's toxic. But native.

Hawk nest

The red shouldered hawks' nest, down around the corner.

Yard salad

Store-bought red lettuce supplemented with violets, hairy bittercress, and a few dandelion leaves from my yard. It was pretty good.