It's Almost Summer

It's always sad to see the lilacs fade, but each new season brings its own wonderful color and delicious smells to the yard.  From the far side of the shed I can smell the sweet perfume of wild roses and the herb garden is filling in nicely adding its own spicy aroma to the air. The sweet William is just beginning to open their colorful heads of vibrant shades of pink and red while other perennials have broken ground but are not quite ready to show their colors. This is the time of year when, hopefully, all the planting is done, and other than watering and an occasional weeding, I can sit back and enjoy the yard and all my visitors.

Of course the chipmunks are as active as ever.  As soon as the backdoor opens they come scurrying from all directions.  They look forward to their special treats (along with the sunflower seeds) of strawberries, grapes, cherries, and other tasty fruits.  It's fun to watch them eat these things.  They tend to leave the outer skin from grapes, with strawberries, they eat everything but the stem and leaves, and they'll eat the entire cherry including the pit which I now remove.

They all seem to want special attention and there is a continual battle to see who gets the seeds on the patio.  Ears runs past everyone else, up the stairs, and onto my lap.  That's her safe zone and she knows the other munks won't bother her as long as she's with me.  She'll sit with me and stuff her cheeks until she looks like she's swallowed a balloon and it's about to burst.  As she races for her burrow, Sugar Plum, or one of the other munks, is in hot pursuit.  I don't know how close they get to her den before they change directions and Ears becomes the pursuer, but I have seen Newbie chase Sugar Plum to the edge of the driveway and then she'll turn around and give him a run for his money.    

One thing I find very strange this year is we have not sighted any babies.  This is a first in at least 7 or 8 years.  I read, somewhere, that chipmunks only have one litter a year, but I know this is not true.  Chip E. had a litter each spring and fall for 3 1/2 years.  The chippys born last fall won't mate until this coming fall, but I was expecting Ears to have a litter.  She did not.  In fact, she was the last to emerge from her chippy hole.  It poses several questions for me.  Do chipmunks know when the dominant male is a close relative and stay in their dens until the mating season is over?  Did  Newbie, Ears off-spring, hang around so close to home he chased off the other males?   Since Newbie now spends most of his time in the woods, will another male move into the yard and claim the females in July?  I guess we're just going to have to wait and watch, but it could be a blossoming autumn.

Visitors - Old and New

Every year we wait and watch to see who will visit the yard.  Charles DuBois, our summer resident woodchuck, should be vacationing with us by the end of the month.  He takes a couple of months off from his winter home and lounges around our garden.  A few years back this handsome turkey showed up and we were lucky enough to get a picture of him strolling along my neighbors driveway.  Now, how cool is that!

Over the past couple of weeks Wanda Wabbit has visited our garden restaurant on several occasions and seems to have had an enjoyable time dinning on violet and plantain leaves.  Unfortunately, the pictures aren't very clear.  She had finished her meal and had to run.  We've seen her several times during the day, but only when it's been cool and overcast or drizzling.  We've seen some pretty big rabbits in the yard, but this one appears to be a juvenile.  

Wanda Wabbit

I'm in here.  Look closely.

 Frog Jacuzzi

This year we purchased a small pond with a spout to connect our two fish ponds and increase aeration in the water.  Good aeration, a biological filter, and a water clarifier are helping to control the algae that has been a problem for a number of years.  We found we had to begin by draining the ponds (one at a time) and then scrubbing the sides with a hard bristle brush to remove any algae stuck to the sides. Then we refilled the pond and let it set for a couple of days before adding the fish.  So far so good.  The water is crystal clear, the fish are happy, and the frog has his own jacuzzi.  Can you see the smile on his face?

Summer Solstice 
 Alban Heflin, Alben Heruin, All-couples day, Feast of Epona, Feast of St. John the Baptist, Feill-Sheathain, Gathering Day, Johannistag, Litha, Midsummer, Sonnwend, Thing-Tide, Vestalia, etc.

June 21st, the summer solstice, the official first day of summer for many and referred to as Midsummer throughout much of Europe. The word "solstice" is derived from the Latin words "sol" meaning sun, and "sistere" meaning to cause to stand still.  As the summer solstice nears, the noonday sun rises higher in the sky on each successive day until on the day of the solstice when it rises so imperceptibly that it appears to stand still.

The solstice has been celebrated by people living in the northern hemisphere since pre-historic times and some of the traditions of early times are still practiced by some today.  For example, the first full moon in June is called the Honey Moon and it was believed that this was the best time to harvest honey from the hives.  Since the month of June fell between the planting and harvesting of crops, it was the ideal time for couples to marry. Newlyweds often dined on food and drink made from honey for the first month of their married life believing that this tradition enhanced their love and fertility - a tradition that has been passed down to us in a less recognizable form called the "Honeymoon".

The summer solstice has been celebrated by different cultures from the Ancient Celts of the British Isles, the Slavic and Celtic tribes of Europe, ancient Rome, Gaul, Sweden and China, the Essenes, Native Americans, Pagans, and Christians.  We celebrate it in prose, poetry, music, and art.  It is both a time of joy and a time of sadness.  We are happy for the warmth, the light, the growing of crops. It also reminds us that we are in a period of decline, that beyond the warmth, the light, and the harvest lies the cold harsh winter. But then, in the middle of a December storm comes the winter solstice and we are pushed ahead to the spring and the rebirth of the earth.  That is the blessing of the seasons.

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       The glorious sun 
Stays in his course and plays the alchemist, 
Turning with splendour of his precious eye 
The meagre cloddy earth to glittering gold.
        
Wm. Shakespeare, King John, III, I 
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Rest is not idleness, and to lie sometimes on the grass on a summer day listening to the murmur of water, or watching the clouds float across the sky, is hardly a waste of time.  ~John Lubbock
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A perfect summer day is when the sun is shining, the breeze is blowing, the birds are singing, and the lawn mower is broken.  ~James Dent
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To learn more about different solstice traditions go to http://www.crystalinks.com/summersolstice.html

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Click here to go to page 2 

Read about lavender and its versatility.

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You can find past editions of our newsletter by clicking on the following link: www.chipmunk-pictures.com/archives.htm

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e-mail: chippytails@yahoo.com

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