Some orange milkweed plants established themselves in the rock garden last year and have spread to over half of of the rock garden this year. They seem to bloom for months at a time, and we have seen various bees and butterflies, as well as dragonflies, buzzing around the flowers. There are a variety of dragonflies: different colors, sizes and patterns on their wings. I recently read that dragonflies are predatory insects, so now I wonder if they are killing our bees and butterflies. I also just learned about damselflies, which we also have flying around the place. Maybe we have created a beautiful orange killing field. I hope not, and I will do more research on the matter.

I read an article recently that was wondering if the firefly population is decreasing or endangered. Starting in June then throughout July we could stand on the back porch looking out over acres of beans around dusk and see thousands of fireflies blinking among the crops. At least around here they seem to be doing fine.

Because we still have not taken down any of our dead ash trees we have several pileated woodpeckers nesting in holes they have drilled in them. Living in the city a property owner will remove a dead tree as soon as possible. Out here it has been interesting to see what happens when they are left up. I have read the pileated woodpeckers will not use the same hole twice, leaving them for owls or other woodpeckers to call home.

Finally, our little toads are back, enjoying the end to the drought maybe more than any of us.

The rain has continued this spring and early summer, ending the drought here in Iowa. Our flowers and hostas are huge from the rain, bigger than they have ever been. So are the weeds, of course. A mama robin was nesting on the side of our house, on top of an internet box. She raised her chicks, and now we have a new batch of baby robins in our big pine tree by the rock garden.

The crops are the same as when we moved in, in 2018, corn to the south and surrounded by beans to the west, north and east. We don’t mind that because the beans are a lower growing crop and give up a much better view of our surroundings. All other years we have lived here we have been surrounded by corn.

The garden is doing really well, again because of all the rain. This year we planted tomatoes, bell peppers and zucchini. We also planted kohlrabi, but some critter was able slip the fence around them and eat it all.

I have to say this summer is, so far, so good.

Earlier this spring our dog Steve, a 13-year-old Shepherd/Husky mix, became very lethargic and quit eating. After giving him a couple of days to recover he still would not eat anything, and drank very little. We tried his favorite treats, chicken, steak, broth. He would barely even look at food. We took him to the Vet, who examined him and ran some blood work, which showed some extremely high liver enzymes. She gave him a shot and sent us home with some antibiotic pills, with advice on other food to try to feed to him. Nothing worked. He was visibly loosing weight and could barely get up to go outside. We had lost our other dog, Marley, last year, and we were now preparing to put Steve down. After seven days of no eating we called the Vet again and he said after this long of a time I think the dog has won. Shelly tried one more time with some broth, and Steve drank it. Then she fed him some boiled chicken, and he ate a little. For a few days he ate chicken at least once a day, sometimes twice. Then he would eat a small amount of dog food with the chicken, and eventually full portions again. He became more lively, walking around, until after a few weeks he was his old self, eating and drinking and running around the acreage again.

Epilogue: Shortly after his recovery I was in the garage with the overhead door open, mixing up Steve’s food. I called for him, and he came running, but when I turned around with his food bowl he disappeared from view. I called him again, no Steve. I walked out of the garage and spotted him around 30 feet away, with something in his mouth. I hollered at him to drop it and when he did I could see it was a baby bunny on its back with the little legs working around. As I started walking toward Steve he immediately picked back up the bunny and began chewing it, working it lengthwise across his mouth, breaking its bones. As I advanced on him he gave me a furtive look, turned the bunny in his mouth head first and with two or three neck stretches and gulps swallowed it whole. I stopped and just stared at him. I had only seen snakes do that. Over the next few days we kept an eye on him to make sure he was okay, and he was. Not only had he regained his old appetite, he had acquired a new one.