squirrel or fox?

now that my son it out of school for the summer, i often do not know the day or date. so, i missed wishing you all a happy summer solstice. as many of you know, i love the equinoxes and solstices. living on the 45th parallel as i do, makes these days just a little more special, i feel. in the twin cities, we get 16 hours from sun-up to sun-set on the solstice. if you add in twilight on both ends, it’s over 17 hours of light!  i love it.

on a completely unrelated note, these grasses gracing our roadsides right now always capture my attention–their long silken hairs shimmering in the sun. i have seen them called both foxtail and squirrel-tail grass. i think foxtail may be a catch-all for many types of bushy grasses. so i am choosing to call these particular grasses squirrel-tails. what do you see? fox or squirrel?

squirrel-tail grass (Hordeum jubatum)