A gardener's life: water, prune, plant, rake, weed, stake. Repeat as necessary. Then smell the roses, harvest the vegetables and pick a mixed bouquet of flowers, grasses and greens to enjoy inside.

Fishing is good in Monterey Bay and the surrounding waters. Ocean fishing continues to host an array of opportunities, and freshwater fishing remains strong in the reservoirs of Central California. A local favorite and a great standby fishery is rockfish, as local boats continue to catch limits constantly.

“The state soil of New York is named for the place where a man lost his finger to a rattlesnake. The finger lays quiet in the ground,” writes Aimee Nezhukumatathil. “The snake’s great-great-grandsnakes still chitter through this soil.”

Raindrops on roses and clusters of cherries,