There are no gray days; only days without sunshine.

Where did I see this phrase? On a bumper sticker? A tee-shirt? Maybe a teabag tag? I even Googled to see if it was a quote and found a factoid in the “Old Farmer’s Almanac” that proclaims Michigan as the 7th cloudiest state in the U.S. The article said “no matter where you live in Michigan, you’re only likely to see between 65 and 75 clear days each year.”

Well, that was news to me, but I am ready to label this season a dud, since I don’t recall a Summer with such blah landscape and so-so, hum-drum skies. Most mornings when I’ve ventured out for a walk this Summer, the skies have been gray, the dark clouds sometimes, rather begrudgingly, will part to let a pale sun peek through, but the truly sunny days have sadly been lacking.

Last weekend was perfect in my book – sunshine galore. Today too. In fact, I hated to come back inside after my walk, and, when I returned from the Park, I even went over to Memorial Park, just a few blocks over to walk a few more laps there before coming into the house.

What a difference a day makes. Yesterday it was so gloomy looking that I failed to notice how green the grass was after that four-inch rainfall we received Tuesday and Wednesday. Gone is the carpet of dead grass that crunched beneath my feet, which brown blades hadn’t shown any signs of life for weeks, after a nearly rainless July. As I trekked through the neighborhoods, I noticed other lawns were greener and showed some promise, unlike most of the flowers that look like they’d given up the ghost a few weeks ago already.

Sadly, those four inches of torrential rain still did not bring back “the greens of Summer” that Paul Simon touted in his song“Kodachrome” ... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qrRRhoS3KFk

I long for those bright Kodachrome colors we all remember from past Summers. But, three weeks of ever-present heat and no rain sure took its toll on the trees, because those drought-like conditions caused the bark to slough off tree trunks, then the wind scattered those feather-light pieces everywhere.

I’ve taken some photos of the dead leaves which litter the sidewalks and also the pathway at Council Point Park. There are not just a few, but enough to swirl into small piles when the wind whips them up.

Look at this fern and how its leaves are already turning red.

The Ecorse Creek was looking better today after all the rain – the water level was higher and the hard downpours eliminated all the algae, that green glow that had glommed onto the surface of the water. Just a few days ago when I took this photo, at a glance, you couldn’t tell whether the green glaze on the murky brown water was pond algae or water lilies.

Even the berry bushes and mulberry trees have stopped producing – either that, or the groundhog has feasted on berries nonstop and eaten them up.

At least a few wildflowers (or weeds, depending on your perspective) are growing along the path amongst the morning glories, like Queen Anne’s Lace and Chicory.

This pale-looking thistle would have looked better with a vibrant goldfinch perched on top and pecking at it, or a delicate Tiger Swallowtail butterfly alighting on it, then supping nectar, both are images I’ve captured in the past.

I sure do miss those birds and butterflies that provide the Summer ambiance at my favorite nature nook. For now, to make Summer complete, we need an injection of color, to turn those pale colors into Kodachrome-worthy hues, and otherwise pep up the Park, which is looking a little sad these days as you see in the picture up top and throughout this post.

Perhaps I just need to don some rose-colored glasses.

You can catch up on my blog posts before I started blogging at Patch in August 2013 by going here: http://lindaschaubblog.net/