Nature Nature Everywhere

After last week's rain-upon-rain-upon-rain weather pattern, we were excited to see some sun this week (less excited about the accompanying heat and humidity, but we'll take what we can get). We ventured out to the Burr Oak Woods Conservation Area for a little nature hike. We had just entered the park and were still driving down the road to the parking lot when we saw our first critter: this snake, which we think is an Eastern Yellow-Bellied Racer (a.k.a. Blue Racer).

We hiked the Bethany Falls Trail,which was lovely, although there was a definite absence of anything resembling "falls" on the trail.

There were some cool limestone formations, which Jesse James and his gang are rumored to have used a a hideout (or so the signs along the trail claimed).


Then we came home and had a delicious spaghetti dinner. We also made bruschetta using the Boxwood Basil we are growing in the garden. Yay! Later in the summer we'll be able to use our own tomatoes instead of grocery store ones...