Uncle Sam and Baby Robin

Uncle Sam at the Highland Park Street Fair
Way back in May I took this photo of Uncle Sam at the Highland Park Street Fair. The fair always seems to announce, summer is coming, summer is coming.

uncle sam points
My daughter and I enjoyed roaming Raritan Avenue and taking in all the many booths. As you can see from her pink sweater, it wasn’t exactly summer weather.

baby robin
The highlight of my summer thus far is the nest of robins growing on our front porch. Here’s a shot of a baby from last week. This week the robins already have many feathers and don’t seem as scared as they did earlier.

What’s summer mean to you? Visit more Summer Stock photos:
Summer Stock Sunday

Split Vav in Peace

split vav

Yesterday Rabbi Bassous talked about the split vav in the parsha of Pinchas. It is the only case in the Torah of a letter being split.

יב לָכֵן, אֱמֹר: הִנְנִי נֹתֵן לוֹ אֶת-בְּרִיתִי, שָׁלוֹם.
Wherefore say: Behold, I give unto him My covenant of peace;

The rabbi explained that it is to show us one cannot achieve peace through violence. (Of course, he said much more, but I can’t repeat what he said without misquoting or taking it totally out of context. So I will leave just this piece for you to ponder and explore on your own).

Review with Orange Lilies

orange lilies in front of yellow rudbeckia

On My Blog

robin crying with open mouth rudbeckia being held with fingers leora camping mizuna roof in illustrator daisy like flower tiny weed bud in July of rhododendron sauerkraut made with red cabbage elegant woman in pink painting

Elsewhere in the Blogosphere

Rudbeckia in the Hand

rudbeckia being held with fingers
I had some shots of my rudbeckia (black eyed susans) even closer up, but I found this one in particular to be a charming composition. The black eyed susans grow all over my front yard. I encourage them (by not picking the little seedlings when the full grown plant self seeds).

For more macro shots, visit Macro Monday.

Mizuna – Purplish Green Edible Leaves

mizuna

Every week of the summer on Fridays there is a Highland Park Farmer’s Market. I often go to the organic stand first, and for the past few weeks I’ve been looking at the mizuna. This Friday I finally bought some, and I sauteed it in olive oil and a bit of sea salt. It was very tasty; however, I only washed it twice under the faucet. I should have let it soak – it was a bit gritty, the way leeks sometimes are. Now I know for next time.

For more Summer Stock photos:
Summer Stock Sunday

For more Straight Out of the Camera:
Straight Out of the Camera Sunday

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