Mild Rainy First Day of Summer

On this almost chilly first day of summer, I sat on the banks of Sylvan Lake reading a book I purchased at St. Ann's Tent Sale. My husband wanted to buy some lumber at Frick's in Brimfield. He dropped me off and came back about an hour later. We got an early start (left home at 8:23 a.m.) as we knew rain was predicted for the afternoon and though the lumber was wrapped in a tarp, it was better to take no chances.

The grounds and gardens of Wildflower Woods are open dawn to dusk. I took a few photos, then sat on a bench next to the lakeshore to read On the Wild Edge: In Search of a Natural Life by David Petersen. This man and his wife live off the grid in the mountains of Colorado in a cabin he built. It seemed an appropriate book since Gene Stratton-Porter was an avid naturalist and conservationist. She liked her comforts, however, in her house by the lake.

With no sun, the gardens didn't seem especially colorful.

There was a cool breeze off the lake, and when a noisy boat of water skiers chose the spot in front of me as their "launching" place, I moved up to the cabin. I had noticed a bench outside near the potting room. I couldn't see the lake quite as well, but then I was reading anyway. It was more protected; I took my windbreaker off. 

About 10:40 I shut my book to head to the information center/gift shop which had opened at 10. There was my husband heading towards me, almost to the house. We used the restroom facilities, then headed north of Rome City to a restaurant for lunch.

The meal was tasty, but we left with a bad taste anyway. The menu had listed the frog legs basket at $11.50. When the bill arrived it said $14.99. When we pointed it out to the waitress, she returned with two menus. One had the original price blacked out and $14.99 penned in; the other had the $11.50 price. She said we must have gotten one of the menus they hadn't changed yet, but the computer that printed the bill said $14.99 and that was what we owed. No apology, no effort to make things right. We felt cheated.

We headed due west from Wolcottville to meet up with a north-south road as when we came across on Highway 6 towards the lumber yard the road was closed for construction and we had to detour. Lots of Amish in this area. The clotheslines were full of plain blue and purple shirts and dresses. Hopefully, they were brought in before the rain started around 3 p.m. Such pretty gardens and flowers in the well-kept yards of those houses impressed us. We only met a couple of buggies so we weren't slowed down much.

It is still gray and rainy. I think I will curl up in my Lazy Boy chair and let my book transport me to a place of elk, puma, bear, and golden aspens.