I just came back from the most enjoyable walk this morning with little George and the dogs. We had a good solid hour to spend as we’ve been trying to give Jenny some free time for her own music lessons. We spotted a few new butterflies including Ruddy coppers (which the males tend to look like a flake of red chrome flitting through the air), a European skipper, Becker’s whites, many small wood-nymphs, a Speyeria fritillary, a common wood-nymph and a huge swallowtail cruising the stream corridor-I’m quite sure it was a two-tailed. It’s been very sunny and warm so little boy and I ducked between the shadows of the alders and willows along the creek. The going was easy and the little guy fell asleep enough that I was able to bend over and pick some noxious weeds-something I try to do on each stroll. The dogs never seem to tire of our walks, they bound in and out of the brush with long tongues in wet coats. Bright sun, the gurgle of the creek, dappled light in the willows, pokey cheatgrass seeds and the scent of high summer all make for time well spent, well… minus the cheatgrass.