Good day, Gentle readers and Happy Monday to you all.

I apologize profusely for this extremely wordy post. But the month of June was an incredible one… at least as season’s go! (The rest of the world is a Total Shite Show… so thank goodness that Nature pulled out all the stops and distracted me from all that.) I hope that you can get yourself something to drink and settle in and allow me to share my June with you all. I will be back on Wednesday!

The foxglove bells, with lolling tongue,
Will not reveal what peals were rung
In Faery, in Faery,
A thousand ages gone.

I do not believe I can ever remember a more beautiful June than the one I had this year. Now, that is not to say that previous June’s were not as lovely… but rather my lack of attention allowed much of that beauty to go entirely unnoticed. In that regard seasons has been an excellent word for me this year. It has helped hone my focus and slowed me down. However, despite that honed focus, the month fairly flew by and honesty, I am so sad it is almost over.

All the golden clappers hang
As if but now the changes rang;
Only f rom the mottled throat
Never any echoes float.

Late spring, I found a book in a small bookshop in Erie… I did not spend much time studying the book in the shop. I simply noted that there was a poem-a-day beginning on June 1st. And so June 1, I began my reading. The editor’s introduction made me stop and think… “Reading outside is another treat of summer and, while a novel may absorb your attention so completely that you do not notice your surroundings, the comparative brevity of most poems allows you to pause in your reading, look around  and take notice of the real world. The world and the poem may not match, but that is immaterial; it is the balance or contrast of the two that matters.” I love reading outside and often sit on the porch and read…but she is right, I can get lost in a novel and not notice much beyond the pages. So, it’s a very good thing that this book of poetry makes me frequently pause. Had I actually looked at a few of the poems I don’t think I would have purchased the book… all the poetry was written a long, long time ago and at first glance is… challenging.

Quite forgotten, in the wood,
Pale, crowded steeples rise;
All the time that they have stood
None has heard their melodies.

But somewhere about the middle of this month I began to see the brilliance of the poetry selected for this anthology. Each poem requires me to slow down, pause… reflect on the written words… and yes, take in my surroundings. I have found poets I knew nothing about, poets I was aware of – but had no clue of their brilliance with words, and lots of poetry that makes me stop and think.

Deep, deep in wizardry
All the foxglove belfries stand.
Should they startle over the land,
None would know what bells they be.

Take the poem I have inserted in this post… written by Mary Webb, who lived from 1881 to 1927. She was a novelist and poet from Shropshire, England. There is a Mary Webb Society, so even though I had never heard of her… the people of Shropshire have not forgotten her! Her poem, Foxgloves, which I have shared here was the perfect start to June (it is the poem for June 1st.) I spent a good bit of the beginning of June looking at my neighbors gorgeous foxgloves… white ones, and pale purpley-pink ones, and even deep magenta ones! It seemed those plants kept urging me on to keep going in this book that I was struggling to settle in with… which has been a very good thing and I have flagged several pages in June’s offerings.

Never any wind can ring them,
Nor the great black bees that swing them –
Every crimson bell, down-slanted,
Is so utterly enchanted.

There was some astounding activity in my “wild” back yard as well… a few highlights I will share with you:

1. Watching the bright, almost neon, first greens of spring settle into a deeper green and then watching the “new growth highlights” that began to arrive over the month. That was truly a feast for my eyes and though I am sure I have noticed this in the past, paying attention to it this year made the process fascinating. It is if Nature is the master artist… it was quite stunning to note!
2. My Pileated Woodpecker’s love the birdbath! I have had the delight of “catching” them in the bath a couple of times now. The male is the “splashiest” and he empties the bath of water. He then settles atop the telephone pole in the corner of my yard to allow the sun to dry him. It is an absolute delight! The Pilated’s are the only woodpeckers that I have ever seen visiting the bird bath.
3. We have a rather large woodchuck ambling through the yard on the regular these days. It makes me laugh, because it appears he uses my yard as a place to “recon” my neighbor’s yard. If he sees no activity he heads over for a bit of a feast. My neighbor has an extensive dahlia thing going on and I think the woodchuck is enjoying it. (I know, many of you all grow dahlia’s and will be horrified at this, but honestly… I cannot feel bad. This is the neighbor of the “stinky” composter. Proof I guess that karma sometimes arrives in the form of one very large groundhog!)
4. I have a pair of Baltimore Orioles who have become regular visitors to the Jelly Bar in the last week or so. When they come together, he always lets her eat first and only when she has finished does he begin eating. They are such gorgeous birds! I have looked for an oriole nest on my ambles with Frankie, but we have yet to find it. Perhaps we will this fall, once the leaves have fallen.
5. The pair of red bellied woodpeckers only had one baby survive this year. It has also been a regular visitor at the Jelly Bar. It was delightful to watch the male bring the juvenile to the feeders… showing him/her (I don’t know if the baby is male or female) where the “good stuff” is. I put peanuts in the tray feeder and I hang suet year around. But the youngster discovered the Jelly Bar all on its own… it is a regular visitor there and is quite adorable in its grey and black feathers!

And now, as we will soon be turning the page to July… I am eager to see how that month unfolds. I have paged through a few of the July poetry entries and I have some Shakespeare, Dickinson, and Tennyson to look forward to! I have not read much of Shakespeare at all, but I am thinking that reading some of his sonnets will be a nice way to laze about in the heat of July!

Header photo by Annie Spratt on Unsplash

Related posts:

Wintering | 1.27.26 Deep Winter | 2.23.26 Enter Spring | 3.30.26 Seasons: Growth | April 2026