A Golden Season

We met our friends Ardyce and Bob for breakfast this morning, and I wore this pair of woolly bugger fishing lures that they made me for my birthday this year. We won't see them again this summer, so it seemed like the right day to don this third and final pair of this wonderful gift.

I feel blessed to spend a few short weeks each summer next door to these kind and generous friends. They have enriched my life in many ways.

I'm not quite sure why I chose to photograph these woolly buggers on the wall of our laundry room/bathroom. Some 15 years ago my children (ages 10, 8, and 5) and I crowded inside with paint rollers and sponges to create a forest of trees and ferns on the plywood walls.

Our neighbors share with us a love of the simple joys of nature here in our corner of the woods. Ardyce and I paddle together; John and Bob fish. We enjoy evenings together around the campfire, and the joy of slow meals cobbled together as we go.

August begins today, the last glorious month of summer. This is the day when I feel myself begin to switch into a different gear, the one that begins the push toward a new school year. I feel the oranges and golds of autumn in the air.