by
Jean Hughes
July 15, 1996
When you can look across the fields and see the heat, it's July. It is the heat and humidity that helps to make the corn grow. If some of this year's stalks reach the potential of their early growth, the ears will have to be harvested by airplanes!

* * *
As the first Queen Anne's lace blooms, bats swing and swoop over the fields at twilight. There are eight tonight. As the sun goes down, the earth steams as if it were brewing.

A firefly clings to me as I walk my road with the dogs this evening. Its wings are fragile and special gentleness should be used by children when catching these delightful creatures. I do not catch them anymore, but I am pleased when one hops on me for a ride. There are thousands of young fireflies now, about half as big as their parents -- little sparklers!

* * *
As I eat breakfast, I watch a baby cardinal learning to eat sunflower seeds. He dallies with a seed, all the while fluttering his wings hoping to be fed. When mother and father do not oblige, he keeps twirling the seed, although it has dropped out of his mouth over and over. Although the seed heart scatters everywhere, he persists. I had not realized that baby birds must learn to handle their food, as must all baby creatures.

Understanding of the earth and its life comes to me in small glimmers. Before seeing them as individuals, all cardinals looked and sounded the same to me. I believed that they sounded the same all over the eastern half of the United States, which is their range.

However, it was the clue that Mockingbirds sing differently in the deep south than in the north, and that those who come to my farm do not sing at all, that gave me the first glimpse into the difference in each bird.

I learned from an ornithologist's recording that cardinals sing differently within a 10-mile range in Ohio. Two songs were recorded. I have heard both of them on my farm. It is my theory, from observation, that cardinals sing different songs not only according to the time of year, but according to their habitat. A different song is sung at the field edges than is heard in the deep woods. All sing cardinal tunes, but each individual sings it in his own way.


For the children, it is never too hot for a picnic or sleeping in a tent in the yard. At eight and 10 years of age, there is as much adventure in the back yard as adults find in the wilds.

One dog sleeps at the tent door and will not leave as long as the children are there. Good dogs can teach children much of value. Perhaps the greatest gift that I will give my little friends is the keeping of dogs for them to know and love.

Picnic Celery Salad
Combine: 4 1/2 oz. can deviled ham, 15 oz. jar Old English cheese, 8 oz. cream
cheese, 1/4 t. liquid smoke, 1/4 cup pickle relish and 1 t. salad mustard.
Stuff into celery sticks. 
This mixture also makes good dip or sandwich spread.

Today, I am taking a trip to the trumpet tree. Along the roadsides, day lilies and butterfly weeds gather in massive orange flocks. The big tree that I have come to see becomes more beautiful every year. It is entwined with trumpet vines.

I have chosen the right day; the vines hang full of red-gold bells. I give myself time to be touched by their charm. I never tire of letting the beauty of the earth soak into me.

<* * *
Wild raspberries are at the peak of perfection now. They always manage to come at one of the hottest times of year, and when the gnats pester constantly. But these black gems are worth pulling through brambly thickets and being engulfed in swarms of gnats. I simply keep my mind on berries over ice cream and eating wild black raspberry jam next winter.

Because raspberries do not all ripen at once, I make many trips to find enough to satisfy my needs. Every trip is filled with bird songs and wildflowers. Who could ask for more? Life is never static. It is ecstatic!

Copyright 1996, Jean Hughes.

Jean's book of ramblings and recipes "A Country Mile of Winter" and her book of poetry "The Earth's My Home" are available for $4.95 each plus $1.30 for postage and handling. Ten of Jean's favorite recipes will be included free with each book ordered. Order from...

Country Mile Publications
616 E. Monroe
Delphi, IN 46923

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