OK, when I say flax, you say phlox

Have you noticed that all the difficult letters are stuck on the end of the alphabet? Is it a coincidence? Because of that mystery, I am taking the liberty of posting photos for ABC Wednesday's letter du jour, X with words that only have an x in them. Blue flax above, tiny & dear and lavender creeping phlox below along with the odd and engaging Prairie Smoke. Of course, these were both captured in my neighbors' yards, with the admonition 'Don't step on anything.'

   

In the book of life, the answers aren't in the back. ~Charlie Brown

                                                                                                                                                                       

cel-e-brate

I give you red from northern Minnesota in anticipation of another snow filled winter [something I am loathe to think about.] These vehicles advertise for a company called Mattracks in Karlstad that manufactures rubber track conversion kits.



 

From the silly clever to the reds in the summer annuals on my deck. Above are the little, sliver-y blooms on a Nectarine Sage plant on the left, and below a cherry -red geranium decked out for the Fourth of July to come.

Have fun visiting Mary's meme for more reds.

If you want to build a ship, don't drum up the men to gather wood, divide the work and give orders. Instead, teach them to yearn for the

vast and endless sea.

Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

A cloudy day on White Bear Lake doesn't stand in the way of fishing. And the weather vane atop a gazebo roofed boathouse points to good sailing ahead. See more skies, some might actually be blue, here.

Tomorrow we head out on two wheels to Winnipeg to visit old and dear friends. Stay tuned as I'm sure to have some pics of South Dakotan and Canadian skies to share next week.

Happy summer weekend, all!

windows: the daydreamer's tools of the trade

examples of sublime windows in Chicago and D.C.

looking out the window at the Laura Ingalls Wilder Museum in Walnut Grove, Minnesota

So they all went away from the little log house. The shutters were over the windows, so the little house could not see them go. It stayed there inside the log fence, behind the two big oak trees that in the summertime had made green roofs for Mary and Laura to play under.
Laura Ingalls Wilder

More W fun at ABC Wednesday here. 

Lazy Libra Leo

Skywatch Friday from the Land of Sky Blue Waters

Another photo of the highway running through the Chippewa [Ojibwa*] National Forest from a motorcycle trip a couple of weeks ago. This forest is unique because it has both a mix of northern hardwood forest between the western Minnesota prairies and northern boreal [coniferous] forest to the north and east toward Duluth and Lake Superior. And the sky is always huge here.

*The Ojibwa people call themselves Anishinabe in their own language, which means 'original person.'

Visit Skywatch Friday for more sky views.

'. . .my purse is empty. . .'

Being an inveterate people watcher, I can't stop myself from a) watching and b) photographing the watchees. These three were admiring Marc Chagall's paintings in Philadelphia this spring. I liked the progression of the smaller work and short lady to larger painting and taller women, with Erica listening and viewing. So, I present you V for viewing, viewers and viewee [me]. Visit ABC Wednesday for more vees.

My name is Marc, my emotional life is sensitive

and my purse is empty,

 but they say I have talent. 

Marc Chagall