It’s feeling familiar. Muggy morning, 70° shortly after sun up. Arise early, feed the dog, and then head out to the garden for breakfast. For me. For Carley. Perfect way to start today: blueberries and a bike ride. 
As you can see, the blueberries are plentiful this year. It’s going to be a bumper crop, I think. But only the first are ripe enough to eat. Blueberries do an unusually wonderful job of spacing out their ripening. New berries maturing daily, from pink to violet to blue-black, swelling, swollen, ready to pick, ready to pop in my mouth, in Carley’s mouth. A midsummer daddy-doggy blueberry buffet.
I bring Carley back inside for postprandial beauty sleep with her momma, and then I head out for a pedal around our rolling Champlain Valley hills.
Slick with sweat before I’ve left the town limits, air thick with moisture. A wandering dog hound joins me, insists on tagging along despite my encouragement to go. Maybe she is? I don’t know where she lives, do I allow her to follow me for at least 2/3 to 3/4 of a mile. Sweet dog. Lithe. Full of energy. And curious. Finally distracted by a butterfly, she loses interest in me and vanishes off the road, following the capricious yellow Lepidoptera.
I pedal on, profusely sweating but energized. Fully happy. For miles.
I rendezvous with a friend as planned, each of us slightly startled, wondering where and when we were supposed to meet. Pedaling and catching up, we listened for cars to make sure we dropped back into single file. But it was Sunday morning, and cars were few.
As we circled back into Essex, near to Rosslyn, we met up with another friend. A quicker catchup before I pedaled home, and they continued on.
Hot. Sweaty. And content. Only one thing missing… So I put my bike away and headed down to the lake for a swim. Aaahhh. Summer bliss!
What do you think?