The hay is cut, but still the roadsides gleam where uncut field grass shimmers green, gold, silver, and bronze.  The elderberries are crowned in ivory; the humble roadside ditch has the first few fire-orange sparks of the daylilies; and the trees have turned dark green against the blue sky where the swallows play.  Summer hurries this year and is nearly at its height now, when the sun is about to begin its turn that will take us towards the fall.