Interlude at Clear Creek

Now, a brief detour from Orkney (definitely referred to as Orkney and not as the Orkneys).

Last Friday Joan and I got up early to drive to Clear Creek Metro Park, in Hocking County. We wanted to get some good hiking in before the heat of the day.

It was early August, and the late bloomers, including the striking purple ironweed and the tall joe pye weed, had begun to burst out. The first sound you notice is the constant chirring of the annual cicadas, which eventually melts into the background, but it was omnipresent during our five hours there, wherever we were.

We weren't the only ones taking advantage of the day.

The pollinators were going crazy in one meadow in particular. If you listen carefully you can hear them over the drone of the cicadas.

No matter how many bloom clusters there were, every one was drenched in bees.