Flowers are abloom, butterflies are fluttering and the landscape is bursting with the brilliant colors of summer. Share your seasonal pictures with the Post. Click on the Post It icon to get started. Click on the picture to view the gallery.

Area fireworks displays, dates and times: Anna: Dusk, Sunday, July 4, Anna City Park Benton: Dusk, Sunday, July 4, Rend Lake Dam and Visitors Center, near Benton Carbondale: 9 p.m. Sunday, July 4, Southern Illinois University Abe Martin Field Carterville: Dusk, Saturday, July 3, Cannon Park Carterville: 9 p.m. Saturday July 3 and Sunday, July 4, Walker’s Bluff, north on Reed Station Road Christopher: Dusk, Sunday, July 4, Dennison Park Du Quoin: Dusk, Saturday, July 3, Du Quoin State FairgroundsGoreville: 9 p.m. Sunday, July 4, city park Harrisburg: Dusk, Sunday, July 4, Saline County Fairgrounds Herrin: Dusk, Sunday, July 4, city park Lake of Egypt: Dusk, Saturday, July 3, Elks Park Marion: Dusk, Saturday, July 3, Marion Knights of Columbus Hall Marion’s Rent One Park: 9:30 p.m. Thursday, July 1 through Sunday, July 4, Rent One Park. Fireworks after ball games Mount Vernon: Dusk, Sunday, July 4, Mount Vernon Airport Murphysboro: Dusk, Sunday, July 4, Riverside Park Steeleville: 10 p.m. Monday, July 5, American Legion Park Vienna: Dusk, Sunday, July 4, city ballpark West Frankfort: Dusk, Saturday, July 3, Frankfort Community Park

               BY JEFF SMYTH

                   Nature can be one bad mother. She’s an ungrateful wench, too. Despite all I’ve done for her, she has it in for me and has released her armies to prove it. This is war both on my possessions and now, I fear, my sanity, too.

                 It didn’t used to be this way. For years I fought for her. I stood shoulder-to-shoulder with elders from the Havasupai Tribe demanding Glen Canyon Dam be torn down so that the torrents of Colorado River water released by its operators would stop scouring the Grand Canyon. I sat with monkey-wrenchers, tripping hippies and eco-warriors in a grassy communal gathering at an Earth First “Round River Rendezvous” calling for halt of the construction of a telescope atop Mt. Graham, Ariz. to save an endangered squirrel (irony check ahead). I worked as the communications director for The Nature Conservancy’s Missouri field office espousing the virtues of leaving prairies, forests and glades alone for the sake of letting them be.

The Pinckneyville American Legion baseball team finally played at home game after four straight rain outs. These pictures were provided by Doug Daniels of the Du Quoin Evening Call. Click on the image to view more.