A nice July day

This was Bastille Day Eve - ten days ago - and Unky Herb, tricolor in hand, was celebrating the French national holiday. It was part of a larger get together, but it's the only photo that I managed to take that day, but it's so joyous that it really needed to be posted. Even nine days late and ten days after it was snapped.  Note that his costume mirrors the hand made flag (from the creative mind of the NCW) clutched in his left hand.  Red, white and blue.

Today was a really nice day and I was feeling energetic. The weather has kept me inside way too much lately, but today I took a walk over by Lake Como about noon to enjoy the weather and the native plants and flowers growing in the park. There were a lot of other people with the same thought and there were a lot of pedestrians, but it's a big lake and I took my time ambling around the newly paved walking path, and smelling the flowers.

The flowers on the shore of the lake are are in full bloom and showing off their colors. These, I think, may be Indian Paintbrushes (if that's a politically correct enough name) and there are lots of them blooming near the shore.

The lake has a new amenity. Thanks to HealthPartners, a local HMO, there is a bike repair station on the east side of Como. It has air pumps and tools - although when I went by the tool box was padlocked - a definite impediment to the use of the tools.

As I was rounding the corner at the end of the walk around the lake I encountered a gaggle of these guys. Not geese. Not crows. They're black and big and I think water birds.  I'm guessing cormorants.

It was one of the nicest days of the summer so far, maybe in the history of days(?)

It was so nice that I came home and mowed the lawn and then made some soup.