In the Good Old Summertime

When I was first learning to read, I loved the book Summer, by Alice Low with pictures by Roy McKie. In the book, a little girl and boy (and their dog) explain how "We love the things that summer brings" and the whole thing is illustrated in these crazy vivid pictures that could only have been drawn in the 60s.

I've always loved summer, so it's no surprise that our copy (yes, I still have it) is tattered and dog-eared and held together with tape. I read it over and over, long after I progressed to chapter books and beyond. One of my favorite passages began "Summer brings us things with wings!", and that's certainly true in My Florida Backyard.

My backyard seems full of butterflies today. The monarchs are visiting the milkweed, the gulf fritillaries are laying eggs on the passionvine, and others are drinking nectar from the lantana.

I captured this new visitor, a fairly dull-looking butterfly with a great name - Horace's Duskywing.


Then there was this rather sorry-looking fellow, who reminded me of another childhood favorite - Shel Silverstein's poem, "It's Hot". The last stanza reads:

It’s hot!
I’ve tried with ‘lectric fans,
And pools and ice cream cones.
I think I’ll take my skin off
And sit around in my bones.

It’s still hot!

See Also: Flickr Butterfly Gallery