June arrives, and the constraints of winter finally unwind around me. I begin to feel free. My daily routine shifts with the early sunrise and the long, lingering sunsets. Even the colors in my closet change—where once there were shades of gray, black, dark blue, and brown, now hang clothes in lime green, pastel blue, crisp white, and rosy peach. It’s as if nature and I are shedding winter’s weight together.

This is the month I reconnect with the birds, many returning from their long winter migration.

Food is plentiful in Nebraska now, and so are the materials they use to build their nests. Their feathers are at their brightest, their energy infectious. Birds seem happiest in June—newly arrived, full of vitality, and ready to start families under the wide summer sky.

Photographer Don Brockmeier’s photo of a bluebird fluttering in mid-air expresses the joy of life in June 2025, and his photo inspired the same expression in me.