Mountain Laurel, Kalmia Latifolia, at Peak Bloom!

There is big news from the woods and waters of central Pennsylvania. The mountain laurel is in bloom! This is Kalmia latifolia, Pennsylvania's state flower. I've been watching it for a while now, as those of you who saw the Mountain Laurelers posting may recall. These particular blooms I found in the Scotia Barrens, also known as state gameland 176, not far from my favorite pond.

First, there are tiny, tight buds, in shades of white, pale pink, and brighter pink. Then a few blooms appear, scattered among the buds. Then we get to full peak bloom, with every bud open and blooming its heart out. I consider this current phase "peak bloom." Most years it hits this phase around mid-June.

So get out and see it while it is gorgeous! Note that you'll sometimes find the freshest looking blooms in the shade, where the sun hasn't gotten to them yet. In mere days, those pretty, delicate, pink blooms will start to fade and turn to rust. There are huge stands of laurel all through the woods. They seem to fill the woods with light. 

I have three bits of news from the yard, one happy, one sad, and then just an update. First, the lightning bug that was our very first one, the one that arrived and put on quite a show on the bedroom window around 10:30 p.m. a week and a half ago, tapdancing its hello? 

Guess what: it was back again at the same time on this night. Same bug, I think. Same amazing show. It was there for 15 minutes, lighting up the night. I imagine it saying, "Thank you, thank you, I'll be here all week!"

And the very sad bit of news is that on this day, we discovered in the yard the itty bitty body of our latest, favorite rabbit, Sulu Bunzini. My husband cried. I buried it in the meadow. Poor sweet thing. It was so fast, but apparently not quite fast enough. 

It had marks on one side of its body, but the other side was perfect. We have no idea what caused its demise, as we did not find it near the road. But we celebrate its tiny joyful life, which was way too short. Go well, Sulu. We will miss you. Binky free, baby.

Oh, and the third thing: the deck guy showed up on this day and commenced two days of repairing the deck. He brought his 12-year-old son along with him to help. So around our house on this day, there was great noise from the sawing and the pounding and the power tools. Progress is being made!

I wanted my soundtrack song for this image to have the word mountain in it. So here are Josh Turner and friends, with Go Tell It On the Mountain.

P.S. I'm back to add more. I just learned a thing! Mountain laurel flowers are spring-loaded. When an insect lands on a bloom, the stamens snap closed and fling pollen onto the bug, to facilitate pollination! Isn't that COOL!?