Mt. Carroll, IL....

So blissfully peaceful, on that quiet summer afternoon, that kitty-cats dozed on the sidewalks.

Iron fence....

romance.

(the fence was probably in place years before the need for the stop sign at the intersection)

Someday...I will photoshop

Meanwhile, the wires are the wires: they convey valuable electrical and telecom services to the home which fronts this small-town backyard scene in the idylic little town in NW Illinois.

The truth is the truth, and will be seen: if not now, then eventually.

Where there are songbirds in Springtime, there will also be bird pooh...

...sometimes front and center!

Once, I helped paint an iron fence; I learned that I would rather have a picture or the memory of an iron fence than the fence itself.

Enough already with the bugs!

Somewhere in NW Illinois, on a sunny afternoon, shadows and

textures of a small-town American backyard.

It's a stink bug!

Whenever I see a bug that interests me, I photograph it, then look it up on the internet; same as one might look up an unfamiliar word in the dictionary. I do the same with plants, butterflies, etc. Lifetime Learning: keeps me out of taverns. So, this stink bug: looks like a shield-shaped chip of jade. Very pretty, did not stink and this is the only one I've seen here.

Great Black Wasp: a better look

the shimmering bluish-black helps it look especially evil...yet, unless you are a katydid or a cicada or you chase it with a fly-swatter, they say it is non-aggressive.