Photo-A-Day Challenge

Home Sweet Home

First Week of July

Home, the spot of earth supremely blest, a dearer, sweeter spot than all the rest. — Robert Montgomery

Day 1

After a sixteen-hour drive to my hometown, I wanted to see the scene above —beautiful flowers and a boat at the dock in the background. It was dark when we arrived but in the morning I saw the unexpected scene below.

Day 2

The dock had been taken out to repair damage caused by the winter’s ice that covered the lake. This looked like a never-ending project to me. I kept my spirits up and pitched in as much as I could. I knew that no dock meant no boat. I couldn’t rest on disappointment, I had to be fueled by the hope that we could complete the project.

Day 3

The dock took a few days to complete. In the meantime, I was glad to see the peonies hadn’t yet expired.

Day 4

By the end of day four, the dock was completed. The boat was washed and at the dock within a few hours. Then, we were out and about enjoying a cruise through the Les Cheneaux Islands.

The cover photo was a purple flower I have never seen before. It was growing in the gravel and up through the decking on the public boat launch. I felt like it was an extra bonus for our hard work rebuilding the dock.

Day 5

I have not yet perfected my fireworks photos but I wanted to share this one in the spirit of the 4th of July. On our bay, there were about eight different places setting off professional-level fireworks. It was an awesome display this year.

Fireworks are one of my favorite things to observe, especially when you can see the reflection in the water to double the pleasure. I could have used this awemazing display to work on my firework photography but I opted to be fully in the moment with my family and friends.

Day 6

I am so glad to see so many monarch caterpillars and monarch butterflies this week. Some of the milkweed plants I observed outside of my grandmother’s house had gobs of caterpillars on them munching away. Some were babies and some were already plumped right up ready to rest up for their amazing transformation.

I have been reading a lot about the decline of the monarch population in the past year. I expected to see less of them, what a great surprise. This makes me appreciate them even more. I want to learn more and join forces with the monarch preservation organizations.

I am on the lookout for some in chrysalis form as well. The butterfly life-cycle was an early memory of awe from my childhood that I would love to have a chance to revisit.

Day 7

On the seventh day, the forecast called for off and on rain all day. We decided to skip the boat for the day and opted for a nice leisurely drive through the wet woods. We checked out some old favorite swimming holes, campsites, teenage party spots, and a wild blueberry patch that we visited regularly throughout my childhood. It is a bit early in the season so some of the blueberries were not yet ripe, but the ones that were had that special sweetness I remember! Home sweet home.

Thanks for reading! I hope everyone gets a chance to revisit things that brought them joy in the past and to relive that home-sweet-home feeling, whatever and wherever that may be.

Again, I had a hard time selecting just one photo a day for this week in photographs — so I added one collage and two pictures for one day. I had to share the caterpillar and the butterfly in full size!

Thanks to Dennett for starting this PHOTO-A-DAY challenge. Also, thanks to Kim Zuch for reminding me that another week has passed and it's time to share again. I enjoyed her week in photos: