with thin petals

It's funny, sometimes identifying a flower is easy, sometimes hard. It took a few tries to identify these delicate beauties; they wear the name daisy fleabane. In spite of the name, this flower is in the aster family.

opening

I love wandering through gardens in the early stages of flowers opening.

painted

I've always loved the painted look of rocks on the Schoodic Peninsula.

simplicity

Sometimes looking up through a flower's petals creates a simple but beautiful scene.

yikes! no water...

It started mid-morning. The water from the kitchen faucet seemed to be flowing less then normal. Hmm... it must just be my imagination. Nope! I looked out of the front door to see water pouring from the sewer covers. Uh oh.

One of my neighbors had noticed a little earlier and jumped through some hoops to figure out who to call. The water department is closed on Sundays, no help there. She ended up calling the police department non-emergency line. It turns out there was a major water main break just across the road from us, and it appears that to prevent flooding the entire area the water was directed into the sewer lines. The pumping station on the corner was totally overwhelmed, unable to keep up with the unexpected water flow. By early afternoon the water was turned off.

I spoke with someone from the water department who drove by just a while ago. While it is possible the water main will be fixed later today the water won't be turned on until they can verify there is no bacteria present in the water. Given the time it takes to test the water it sounds like we will be lucky if water service is restored by late tomorrow.

I assume that water will always flow from the faucets whenever it is needed; it's quite disconcerting when it doesn't.

updates in the evening:
I just got home from a pleasant early evening walk to find that the water is back on. Phew!

A bit later... an automated phone call from the town said not to drink the water until testing is completed and an all clear call is received, probably tomorrow. I have plenty of bottled water for drinking and cooking, and I'm delighted that the plumbing (all of it!) is now back in order.

solstice

Today marks the arrival of the summer solstice. While my preference has always been for the cooler temperatures of spring and fall, for the tulips and iris of the spring, the shapes and colors of summer flowers make me smile.

emergence

I am in awe of the figures that sand sculptors create. The annual Hampton Beach Sand Sculpture event started last weekend with the "by invitation" sculptor creations beginning on Wednesday with packing sand into forms. The sculpting started on Thursday and finished today. I wanted to see the work in progress so I took time away from work yesterday afternoon to head to Hampton Beach.

The detail that is possible in sculptures created from sand is simply amazing.

More sand sculpture photos can be seen in the gallery emergence.

If you're in the area and are interested in seeing the sculptures they will be left in place until the end of 4th of July weekend.

sunlit

A sunlit wild rose seems to rest on a fence railing.

does false blue indigo = purple?

This flower wears the name "false blue indigo". I see the color as more of a purple than a blue, and the definition of indigo states that it is the color between blue and violet. It's a beautiful flower, isn't it?

on a curved stalk

I usually see foxglove in bright pink; today this light-colored beauty jumped out at me.