The BRC craftsman and spouse have resided at our lakeside domicile for 4 decades. Since our early years here, we have enjoyed observing a colony of terrapins along our shoreline including two huge tortoises of the snapping turtle variety. We named the oversized twosome Bruno and Brunhilde to invoke a romantic pairing from a Wagnerian opera. These impressive creatures can grow sometimes up to 14 inches long and dwarf the much smaller box turtle species as seen below. Note the baby terrapin perched on the expansive shell of a gigantic half-submerged snapping turtle.

Over the years, Bruno and Brunhilde frequented a favorite recessed area along the shoreline behind the BRC workshop to sunbathe together as seen below. They would promptly flee into the lake, however, if anyone ventured too close for a photograph. These impressive amphibious creatures can live up to 30-40 years or longer. Also noteworthy in the below photo is the shadowy figure of a hefty grass carp in the nearby shallows.

This summer, only Brunhilde has returned to our shoreline, but a new young snapping turtle has surfaced to investigate the aforementioned favorite terrapin sunbathing spot. We will probably name the newcomer Siegfried.

From the BRC:  Wishing you a sunny summer observing Nature.

Having recently read the biography of Merle Travis, the BRC craftsman was reminded of his own finger-picking guitar stylings from years ago while living on the East Coast. In his younger days, he played Travis style for decades before relocating ultimately to Missouri and becoming immersed in the Bluegrass genre of the Heartland. Although finger-picking the six-stringer is popular in East Coast coffee houses, the standard back-up to the five-string banjo in the Midwest is a flat-picked rhythm guitar.

Since reading the Travis biography, the BRC banjoist has slowly but surely rekindled his very rusty and long dormant finger-picking guitar skills. After warming-up his aging digital joints on the banjo at a recent jam session, the BRC craftsman borrowed a mandolinist`s guitar to play the Merle Travis classic tune “Nine Pound Hammer.” At the end of the song, the mandolinist (above center left) exclaimed that this surprise performance made her guitar “sparkle.”

From the BRC:  Hope you have a sparkly Fourth of July.

The past month of May brought a particularly rainy season to the Heartland, and Spring flowers bloomed in abundance. A few days ago when we musicians exited our weekly Thursday evening neighborhood jam session, a torrential downpour fell upon us without warning. A photo of the BRC domicile taken on the following morning reflects the lush greenery surrounding our brimming lake.

A Great Blue Heron soon appeared on the shoreline behind the BRC ground floor workshop. The noteworthy return of this splendid bird to our lake from its winter retreat in the Southland is a conclusive indicator of the impending arrival of summer to our environs.

Encountered later on a hike around a neighboring lake as seen below, a wary heron (family of Ardeidae in the order Pelecaniformes) studies the BRC photographer slowly drawing nearer for a cell phone photo.

With a squawk, the Great Blue Heron suddenly deployed its powerful wings and sprang into the air to elude the intruder.

The magnificent avian (species of Ardea herodias herodias) promptly fled to the safety of the limitless skies above.

From the BRC:  Enjoy the arrival of Summer wherever you may be.