I'm Back . . . sorta

Just a short post, dear friends. I've been hithering and thithering through Missouri, Arkansas, Oklahoma and Kansas in the recent days, and I've enjoyed every moment. I'm still not back home. I've taken scads of pictures. My niece lives on the edge of a lake, and a friend (a high school friend whom I'd not seen for about 45 years!) has some acreage in the woods, all lending itself to some wonderful photos. I'll post a few here to whet your appetite.

The first few days while I was with my niece, I was too tired to care about blogging! Imagine!! ME!!! I just rested and visited with her, taking it very easy.




When I pulled into her property, there was a herd of deer numbering a dozen or more lounging in the yard. I took a couple quick pics before even turning the engine off.






They visited at least once a day, but I never had the camera ready. I wasn't thinking ahead, just letting my mind rest wastefully.






One morning on her deck, I watched the sun rise through the trees. It was awesome.












The lake was just yards from the house. These trees are some of the same that graced the sunrise above.














This single red leaf is probably telling of the dry summer we've had, but I couldn't help but think that it might be the harbinger of fall.







Then I was off to my friend's place. I was away from good internet connections at his home, so I couldn't do any blogging and didn't even bother to check my email, either. We spent a lot of time just talking, but I did lots of photo shooting, too.



The hummingbird feeders outside their dining room attracted 20-30 of the little guys at a time! They're a challenge to capture with a camera, but I like this one with the middle one still, the one on the left just landing, and the one on the right in flight. You can see the blur of his wings.










Wow! Look at this one in full motion!










He and I took cameras in hand and walked the grounds, stopping anywhere that we saw something interesting.



This is a pond on his property. Very serene.















Lichen grew everywhere and was eyecatching.














This peaceful meadow seemed to just pull me into it.










I got some amazing pictures of butterflies.





This guy was flittering all over the numerous blooms.














It almost seemed that he was posing for me.
BTW, if you don't know it, you can click on any of these pictures to see it in a larger view.













These two tiny butterflies stayed on the same blossom the whole time we watched and were giving it a real work over.







It has been a good trip, and I'd like to just continue without having to go home. I will write more later, but for now I just wanted to say I'm in the final few days of my little trip. Floor Guy says he will be done and the floor ready for me when I return on Sunday. I'm eager to see it. But I'm mostly eager to take up the next adventure of my odyssey, concentrating on the final touches to the house and listing it. That will mean I can GO-O-O-O-O!!!!!!