The weather in Lewisburg has been sublime the last few days. Cool. Not terribly humid. It’s been that beautiful sort of “makes you want to go outside and do something hearty and robust” weather, even if you’ve been working your tail off trying to get ready to teach your first Zumba class while brushing up on Silver Sneakers routines, and you really should take opportunities to sit or drive or relax because you’ve literally been dancing for three or four hours a day.
For the record? It takes a staggering shit-ton of work to get ready to teach a class at a gym, especially early on when all the routines are brand new. Never mind prepping for two different ones. Moving on.
One of these recent glorious mornings–Tuesday, if all y’all must know–I hit the ol’ Buffalo Valley Rail Trail and pedaled my way off to work for the best commute ever. It’s summer, so mostly everything is lush and green.
Everrrrrrything.
Far as they eye can see. This. Green green green. Fecund is, actually, the word that leaps to mind, and I’m fairly certain that that word has never readily leapt to my mind until now.
Do I sound jaded? Like, “oh, lorrrrrrrrrd, everything was all verdant and…yawn…greeeeeeen…“. If that’s the case, I apologize, because it’s pretty fantastic to ride through. I felt like I was in The Shire, or something. (LOTR nerds: represent!). While a prolonged tunnel of greenness doesn’t necessarily make for the most dramatic pictures, I did manage to click one or two… 🙂
Like this one, of a morning glory, complete with some kind of bug having its way with the flower.
Hey bug, what’cha doing in there?
Or this, with the tops of the corn against the bright blue sky. Power lines stretching overhead gave a bit of an interesting perspective.
Sometimes, you just need to look…up.
And, city folks, have you ever really looked at the roots of a corn stalk? No wonder they’re so easy to make horror movies about.
They’re like fingers, man, digging straight in.
I came upon this fuzzy thingie sticking out into the trail and really liked how it caught the light.
Remember making fake moustaches with these things? You must pay the rent!
A tangle of pokeberry bushes… Wait, what? ***A*** tangle? These things are everywhere. The berries are inedible, and more than inedible, they’re poisony. The mature berries make great ink. Legend (i.e., Wikipedia) has it that the Declaration of Independence was written in pokeberry ink; the National Archives puts the kibosh on that tall tale (it was iron gall ink, which was apparently the ink of choice for centuries). But the bushes sure are pretty.
Poke. Poke poke poke.
The pokeberry bushes intertwined with the delicately-flowered orange touch-me-not. I’ll have to go back and look to see if there’s a mature fruit capsule hanging there, because they apparently burst on contact, hence the name.
Kaboom.
Then I found the leaf where bugs were making with the love. Avert the children’s eyes.
Bow chicka wow wow.
And remember, fecund?
This is what that word means.
And finally…
A little bit of everything. Some sun, some sky, some green, a barn, a cow, and some early-turning leaves already sporting their fall color. Despite it being the height of summer, autumn is just around the corner.
Welcome to central PA, a little Nirvana on the Susquehanna.
See you on the Rail Trail!
Lovely!
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Thanks!
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Your photos are fantastic. And the colors are equally amazing. I love the last pic the best. It has a well-rounded feel to it and who can dispute summer’s awesome? Not me!
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The last photo was like a gift. I looked up from the trail and realized, there was–literally–everything I could want from the rail trail in this photo, with the exception of something entirely out of place, like a man in a penguin suit or something. This summer has been pretty awesome, I have to admit, and I’m the person who wouldn’t normally say that. I’m a cold-weather girl. But this summer has ruled.
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You are so right and you say it so well…I must admit Manchester is equally green in abundance but we need someone to tell the world! xoxoxo
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Well, get a camera, Helen, and get to clickin’! 😉
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You say “fecund,” I say “Roundup!” Spray/kill those weeds!! Still, you make them look beautiful,and your words made me look again to make sure I wasn’t seeing things (weeds). Also, NSFW bugs ❤ for real! 🙂
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Not my weeds, not my problem. I mean, aren’t they all, ultimately, just misfit plants? They need an island somewhere. LOL Glad you dug the love bugs!
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“Misfit plants.” I like it. I will try it on my family next time they point out the overgrowth of misfit plants in the yard!
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Beautiful shots, as always.
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Thanks, Marjorie! Much appreciated.
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