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107 Instead of Vacationing in Maine Here฀on฀our฀screened-in฀porch,฀the฀hot฀August light฀falls฀like฀a฀shawl฀over฀the฀dogs,฀each฀asleep in฀his฀bed,฀the฀big฀one฀stretched฀out฀in฀his฀long฀white coat,฀the฀pup฀curled฀into฀a฀pile฀of฀pillows,฀one฀ear฀flopped back฀over฀his฀forehead.฀The฀FM฀station฀sends฀“The฀ Wasps” into฀the฀humidity.฀Williams฀composed฀it฀at฀nineteen. At฀nineteen฀I฀was฀lost.฀Cicadas฀stutter฀in฀the฀branches฀ bending over฀the฀stream฀drying฀now฀to฀a฀meandering฀line฀of฀cold spring฀water฀that฀rises฀from฀the฀bottom฀of฀Kelly฀Lake then฀twists฀for฀three฀miles฀before฀losing฀its฀trail฀into the฀maw฀of฀Lake฀Michigan.฀Deer฀come,฀drink from฀the฀creek฀then฀move฀closer,฀this฀year฀close enough฀to฀gnaw฀the฀leaves฀from฀the฀mass฀of฀hostas that฀surrounds฀the฀house.฀One฀kingfisher฀cackles฀back and฀forth฀from฀branch฀to฀branch,฀pausing฀to฀peer฀down for฀minnows,฀crayfish,฀and฀tadpoles.฀The฀gardens฀held through฀July’s฀dragging฀lack฀of฀rain.฀We฀helped, sprinkling฀the฀pots฀with฀the฀watering฀can฀we฀found years฀ago,฀its฀paint฀peeling฀and฀leaving฀a฀patina฀that like฀a฀still฀life฀blends฀into฀the฀quieting฀hues฀of฀the฀scramble 108 of฀color:฀wine-red฀begonias,฀pale฀pink฀and฀purple phlox,฀coleus,฀the฀pastels฀of฀daisy,฀gazania,฀the฀stunning burgundy฀of฀bergamot,฀that฀seducer฀of฀hummingbird฀and yellow฀jacket.฀In฀the฀late฀afternoon฀dragonflies฀pose on฀the฀lilies’฀leaves,฀the฀day-mortal฀blooms฀leaning฀into the฀sunlight฀as฀if฀to฀invite฀the฀swallowtails฀and฀monarchs. All฀of฀this฀here,฀all฀of฀this฀leaving฀with฀the฀music฀and฀the฀ day. ...

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