How can it be that we are already immersed in the middle of July? 
I have been swallowed by summer, it seems.
Lakes and rivers. Canoes and paddles. Tents and gorgeous weather.
Multitudes of . annoying insects
Brave little foxes and kissing doves.
And colourful fireworks in the garden.
If only we could figure out how to make summer more of a slow dance…
© Karen McRae, 2014
draw and shoot 
Our summer is busy and beautiful as well. Oldest daughter getting married in three weeks!!!! Thanks for the beautiful images.
Best wishes to your family and your daughter, Rutakintome! Enjoy your summer, it’s such a wonderful season.
Thank you!
The timing and emotions (humans and other animals) in your captures are incredible, Karen.
On making summer a slow dance, keeping busy usually does the trick!
Sometimes I get lucky, Millie, thank you!
Well, I’ve been certainly keeping busy and it’s whizzing by anyway. Savouring each moment, though…
Time seems to go by faster each year, which is where reinvention comes in, and you’ve certainly reinvented lots of common experiences into spectacular ones, Karen.
Beautiful pictures!
Thanks very much!
Summer is a tango, foxtrot, and waltz in Moscow now, Karen! Your pictures bring sweet relief to me, who has walked asphalt daily for 2 weeks! Beautiful!
Marina! You are in Moscow now?
It has been a wonderful, mostly outside summer so far. Not so much this week though…
I hope you find some green grass and tall trees to spend time with.
xoxo
This is a wonderful series, Karen! Bravo!
Thanks very much!
🙂
So cute fox! You are spending great time 🙂
Thank you! Yes, it’s been lots of great outdoor time and the weather has been lovely.
Les shoots animaliers sont excellent, notamment le renard! Les fleurs sont superbes, Beautiful pictures, congrats 🙂
Merci, Stephane!
aw I love this. Such beautiful words.
Thanks very much, Michelle, I’m glad you do!
In a way you slow summer down a bit by sharing these images, giving us all a moment to stop and just look at the summer, really see it. Thank you for some wonderful summer images!
That’s a nice comment, Gunilla, thank you.
: )
Looking at your pictures is a bit foregetting the problems around us – enjoying life – enjoying summer!
There’s so much beauty to appreciate. Thank you, Heidi!
Fireworks, love them.
Jim
the quiet kind…
: )
sigh…”If I could save time in a bottle… “. Beautiful photos Karen – I especially love little fox guy lazing about in the grass.
That fox was so sweet. Happily, we kept seeing him hanging around the campground. Thank you, Hazel.
Oh, he’s so cute 🙂 what a gorgeous little guy!
Irresistible! Thanks, Trish.
xx
You have some great pictures Karen. The little fox is so so cutte!!!
Thank you, Isabel. That fox was surprisingly unafraid of people.
Beautiful post Karen. I guess that you zapped those annoying insects 🙂
Thanks, David. I may have smacked a bug or two!
life is going on!
beauty little fox!!!!
Yes, the fox was delightful. Thank you, Jesus.
How sweet Karen ! This is what the peace is, both in the world
and in the mind of photographer.
That’s a lovely comment, Yoshizen. Spending time out in nature sure is peacful. Thank you!
how lovely! the fireworks really look suspended
Thanks, Tim Roof!
Those fox images are so sweet, Karen. And the flowers are lovely. I’d like to figure out how to slow it all down. With each passing year, the time seems to quicken.
Yes, I guess I’ve had some great moments already this summer but it slips by at warp speed. Yes, we were lucky to have the little fox companion. : )
Foxy (and itchy, it appears). Only slightly larger than my Ariel I expect.
Yes, a little itchy! I’m mostly recovered.
Not a very big fox but quite magnanimous as I imagine Ariel to be.
Oh, these are so lovely, Karen! Absolutely beautiful images. That’s the beauty of summer!
I’m trying to soak it all the beauty of summer. Thank you, Anette, I’m glad you like these.
Well, you have certainly made my summer today a slow beautiful dance! 🙂
Enjoy! 🙂
There are slow moments, I guess, but overall it’s a bit of a whirlwind. I’m happy to know you are slow dancing, Marina!
: )
Reblogged this on mapsworldwide blog and commented:
Midsummer magic!
Thank you!
The wildlife, the color drenched flowers, the perfect words, and the poetic tint enveloping it all-marvelous.
Much thanks, Elena! Your words are lovely.
Love your photographs, but your narrative was perfect compliments.
Thanks very much, Mary!
Your pictures are full of summer feeling. We were waiting for that season so long but it goes to fast in our busy life. Awesome pictures!
Winter is a slow waltz and the summer a foxtrot… maybe.
Thanks very much, Alexander.
I like your picturesque seasons interpretation.
Nothing is forever, summer is our teacher. Love those fireworks, yow!
You are right, Brenda. I guess it’s too soon to be lamenting its passage. : ) It just feels so good!
thank you! xx
How nice, Karen. Agree so much about the slow dance. And especially love the last two.
Thank you, Bente. It has been lovely here.
awww 🙂 I love how the upper image goes with the fox
He was a sweetie! : )
Beautiful pictures!
Much thanks, Vilde.
What a lovely optimistic post! Your stamen fireworks are stunning! Have a great summer, Karen!
Thanks so much, Richard. It’s been a lovely start. Have yourself a great summer too!
fox ( lis in Polish) looks great! nice catch : ) wanda
Thank you, Wanda!
Agreed! Slow down.
Don’t you live in some sort of eternal summer already, Lilly?!
: )
Kind of, but the desert summer is more like an oven. 🙂
An outstanding collection of images.
I’m glad you think so, Louis, thank you!
Splendid images, Karen. I long for the slow summer dance too.:-) In the North the summer disappears much too quickly. 😦
I guess summer is especially appreciated where it is so fleeting. Enjoy the warm lush days, Dina! Thank you.
Lovely photos, so much beauty
Thank you very much!
What a beautiful little fox and then it just gets better! The second last photo of the flowers is so gorgeous! I would blow it up (not with explosives) and have it take up a large portion of a wall … don’t know which one as they are all mostly taken. But do you mind if I use it as inspiration to maybe paint something? It’s beautiful! Xox
Hi Gigi, oh yes, please feel free to find painting inspiration here. I’d love to see some of your painting by the way! : )
Thank you very much! xx
Hei Karen! Looking at your new post on your blog to my morning coffee. It`s like a gift – so full of love and beauty; your pictures and also your writing. I like the mix of different photo design – and I specially like your colorful flowers. I want to borrow from you, some of your text that get right to my heart: “Swallowed by summer” and “..how to make summer more a slow dance”. Can I? I do the slow summer right now, and I have to go real slow for finding the gold in myself – slow and be in the moment is a key to happiness, love and creating I think. For some people. Have a lovely, slow summer day! Gro ❤
Hi Gro, what a nice comment, thank you. Yes, use those words and phrases however they fit with your life, I’ve probably borrowed them from somewhere myself.
These activities feel slow (and wonderful) when you are in them but looking back over the past few weeks it seems the time goes as fast as the swallows fly!
Happy Summer! ❤
Beautiful photos! The fox is simply precious!
Thank you! Yes, the fox was so sweet.
That fox is super cute 🙂 Wonderful photos all around.
The fox is just gorgeous Karen as are all the pictures. I sometimes get foxes in the garden but I’ve never seen cubs like this. Fabulous!
Hi there – I think of you as Queen of Winter, with your ability to find so much to see in subtle grays and faded seed heads, so this is enlightening! The flowers – such interesting images with the narrow focus and contrasting colors. I’m glad you’re drinking it all in. Be well!
Gorgeous shots. The lighting is so beautiful!
Lovely captures. The joy in everyday.
The great outdoors, what a wonderful place for the soul. I love the third image of the Fox, such an endearing photo. Have a great day.
Great series of photos, so diverse. The 2nd shot is my favorite, but the flowers seem to match my mood for the day too ~ Cheers.
Gorgeous pictures, Karen. Thank you!
Nice words to compliment the wonderful photo’s.
Dancing the summer, love this ;O)
Don’t know how I missed these the first time around but now I can reclaim three lost weeks of summer with foxes and birds and flowers. Beautiful images as always Karen.
These are amazing!!! I LOVE the fox photos!! You caught them in their natural state and it is magical!
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Time travel: just today iwas wondering how it can possibly be that there are only three days left of summer…
An amazing encounter, well photographed. Thanks, Karen.
Where did Summer go, so suddenly? haha