KISS SUMMER HELLO, KISS MY ASH GOODBYE

Got my fix of old beauties on the last day of spring. A field full of classics, like a rainbow on green grass. The Girl's Best-In-Show was a pretty yellow Pick'emUp. The Boy admired Old Rusty ---- they both did a lot of work...

At midweek Summer arrived!! A fireball as far north on the horizon as it will ever be. And right on time, welcomed back with coffee, at 6:09 a.m.

So, the first chance to take a summer drive. Ominous scene on the bay as warm air met cold water and created cotton candy fog, followed by pink pillows to the east. Remember that song "Wonder Where the Lions Are"? Can you #findthelionshead? And we had to salute the season on a stretch of the divider between north and south. (The top went up and down with the cold winds...)

Back at home, the Ontario Hydro crew finally showed up to take down the shady corner ash tree. It had actually grown into the wires (see closeup). What amazed me was that the chain saw that cut through thick hardwood was electric, as in battery-powered. The trunk came down with a thud and we were left to clean up ---- budget cuts mean they don't even chip it for you anymore.

So instead of counting the tree rings, you have to practice elsewhere. How many chipmunks camouflaged on the ground? And a challenge --- how many tarts (do you count the baker??)?

CAKE, SNAKE, NAMESAKE

Birthday week included a cake with the sisters. How many candles to blow out?(Hint:What was the first year of the Mustang: 19??) The cheeky card showed the best seat in the house...

Back at the pond, evidence of a water snake getting larger. Watch out ---who's pond is it?

The peonies are bursting as they climb to the sun . This raccoon climbs too. It bursts --- on bird feed.

Two-thirds of our woodlot are ash trees, white or red. Not hard to tell which colour this one is, with clumps of thick red keys. The surprise is that ash trees give off thick pollen too. After a rain shower, the road is covered with ash pollen like pixie dust on a runway. Achoo!

But all those ash trees are withering and will die off from the invasion of emerald ash borers. So the chain saw is getting a workout clearing and thinning. The trees are high and skinny because they have to reach for the sunlight above the canopy. And they grow fast ---- as nephew John M used to say, "Count the rings!"

These abilities, mental or physical, come from my father. I thank and honour Walter every day by thinking and doing. On this Father's Day, I'm forever grateful and proud to be a Wyszynski.

HE, SHE, THEY

HE finally got a chain saw to help out with the clearing. What could possibly go wrong? Poison ivy on the arms! But the bush is getting passable. Dragging the trees away must be good cross-training because he passed the annual heart stress test easily.

SHE shovels it but can spread it too. Look closely --- there's another Wyszynski up here! And she added more thyme to our life...

THEY crawl on the earth like this yet-to-be-identified salamander. And some pass overhead like these fleets of geese, so close their wingbeats sound like heavy breathing.

HE likes to poke around under cars. Not so much to poke a stubborn raccoon ---- guess who won that one?

THEY are awesome to see, like a fox in the bike lane. The chipmunks seem to be talking about the weather! And these black squirrels lined up like a compass ---- which one is north, south, east, and west?

HE and SHE went to a car and plane show at a local airstrip. Great to see beauty on wheels. But a float plane would be very useful up here on the bay --- hmmm. HE liked the '64 Valiant red ragtop but it needed work, so his vote went to a Canadian Monarch. SHE voted for the rare Ford Econoline: compost or camper??

SHE had a major celebration day. In-house tribute included candles, cards, and a nostalgic ride to her old home town. But a beautiful, one-of-a-kind present arrived from an exclusive Vancouver knitter. Which is brighter --- the colours of the wool or the smile??