As we can’t help but mention repeatedly, we spent some extra time in our home state due to Doug being called for jury duty for a full month (of which he was called to serve four hours). While we were in residence, there was awful flooding – our campground was closed and we were relocated for several days. We were grateful for a space in a different campground, but there was literally not one iota of shade and there was a heat wave, so it was not the most pleasant of experiences. We made the most of it and lived to tell the tale. The cover photo is from the campground; there were also tons of awesome fireflies at night!
Thanks to the crazy flooding, we figured we’d best get ourselves over to Falls Park finally. It was pretty intense, with many people who lived there saying they’d never seen the Falls looking like that. You can watch some done footage I found of it here.
Sioux Quartzite formations in Palisades Park (along with some dangerously high water!).
I thought the light on these upright prairie coneflowers was really pretty!
A casting of Michelangelo’s statue Moses, donated to the city along with David by philanthropist Thomas Fawick in the 1970s.
Monarch of the Plains by Darold E. Bailey, 1999, at Falls Park. The inscription reads, “Herds of buffalo roamed the falls area in the 1800’s.”
There are only two castings of Michelangelo’s statue David, and this is one of them (or is it??)! Plus, look at that awesome van behind it!
I’ve had a lot of frustration trying to snap a photo of a Baltimore Oriole, and this is the best I’ve got. So vivid!
Is this American Goldfinch giving me side eye?
A new bird for us, a Dickcissel! He’s got something to say!
Another new bird for us, the Western meadowlark.
We have suddenly started finding hummingbirds resting in trees everywhere. Very weird.
by 
Fireflies and beautiful birds! Nice pictures!
Thanks!