I took Blake up to Fairfax Pond-Rehe Wildlife Management Area tonight to scout fishing spots. While he counted bluegills, I was mesmerized by the memorably-dramatic, mid-summer sky, where the tattered remnants of the prior evening's storms stampeded across the horizon. Along the wetlands' edges, radiantly-beautiful swamp rose (Rosa palustris) spilled over into muddy pathways, keeping close company with Allegheny monkeyflower (Mimulus ringens) and blue vervain (Verbena hastata), also referred to as swamp verbena. In the oak-hickory woods farther back, the flowering spikes of downy rattlesnake plantain (Goodyera pubescens) poked up from the forest floor, and the dangling, bittersweet berries of deerberry (Vaccinium stamineum) were beginning to ripen. All reminding me how much I love summer's endless drama, occasional violence, and hurtling life force.