UPDATE: shortly after this was posted, the heavens opened and it’s been raining for a couple hours. Thank you, God.
It's been unusually hot these days. It's seriously awful. If we don't get a break in heat and a decent amount of rain soon, the yard and gardens will think it's that hot, end-of-summer time of year and go dormant. We've yet to get a ripe tomato, and they're not very large because of lack of rain. How do people who live in the desert stand it? I have to go outside, I feel like my spirit would be completely crushed if I had to be indoors the bigger part of a year due to heat. I can't imagine not feeling the earth under my feet daily, or just going outside whenever I want, any time of the day and not perish of heat stroke. My hat is off to you. I couldn't do it. I barely function now, as it is, when I step outside. Can you say CRABBY?
I was craving ice cold cantaloupe and a Panera cinnamon chip bagel, so off we went yesterday to a bigger town with a Panera. The cantaloupe is from Aldi, cheap and really good. It was on the verge of being very ripe. I washed the outside of the cantaloupe with diluted antibacterial soap, sliced and diced it, and put it in the fridge. It's like ice cold candy this morning, it's so sweet. It's the best one I've had in a while. I only ate half the bagel. They are enormous, and I knew I'd want a second helping of cantaloupe. Lots of butter on that bagel; you can't see it, but it's there! Toasted and chewy and cinnamony . . . mmmmmm.
The gardens. A girl could cry. We need rain, and crying doesn't make it rain, but it might make me feel better. We did have a little storm roll through yesterday, and we got more rain than a few other friends in the county, but we need more. There are chances of rain this afternoon and this evening and overnight, so maybe we'll get some more liquid sunshine. In the meantime, I have some pictures. Things do look a bit parched, but that's life in a dry summer.
First up, here are the sunflower and zinnia patches. They're holding their own between the small smatterings of rain here and there and some watering every now and then to try to give them a chance. They've grown immensely, so I have high hopes for these turning out. Prayers that they do, it'll break my heart to not have flowers.
This is rooster comb! This is the first year growing these. The seeds were an exchange! I have a huge picture on my office wall, and it's one that I took of our zinnia and sunflower patch last year. A gentleman I worked with asked me about the flowers, and I offered to share some of our seeds with him. In return, he shared some of his rooster comb seeds. Now, get this: my seeds were purchased online through a reputable seed company. His seeds were family heirloom seeds that he harvests and re-plants yearly. I think his seeds are a bit more impressive . . . . I'm excited to see how these turn out.
This is pineapple sage! See those tubular flowers? Hummingbirds love those. The flowers will bloom through fall. This is a very inexpensive item to grow for the environment and can be maintained in a large pot, as well, although with a pot, you have to keep watering. This plant is in the ground. Although you cannot tell from the picture, it's quite large now. They grow quickly and smell wonderful.
Lantana! What can I say? I love lantana. The picture doesn't do it justice. These are actually scarlet red, but it was a very hazy day, and they appear to be a dark pink. They're not. I'll try to get a better picture. Our butterly/monarch population love lantana. I have two of these in the herb bed. They'll help round out the space of the herb bed and give it some color while contributing to the pollinator species cause.
This is just a fun picture of our grapes. I love how, no matter what angle you take a picture of a loaded grape vine, it's always beautiful. Hazy day? No problem. Gonna be a gorgeous picture. When you see a beautiful picture taken by a known photographer, the credit always goes to the individual who captured the picture. Me? The author of any decent picture that I take is 100 percent God's creation. I was just blessed to snap it.
That's just about it. A word about the next few weeks, though. The county fair is less than a month away. Then, August will hopefully be full of fresh tomatoes and lots of time outside in the shade. It's a return to school for kiddos, too. The melancholy of September will be upon us before we know it, along with Labor Day, the last hurrah of summer. September's the month when ice tea glasses sweat the most, flies move more slowly - so slowly that you can, in fact, hear their humming - and time drags until you realize it's Autumn, at which point we will all cry "Where did summer go?!"
I both love and dread September. It's the beginning of the countdown to the end of the flowers, ripe tomatoes get scarcer, and the wind begins to feel different. The light shifts noticeably, and the realization of shorter days is a bit of a shock. But it's also a time when the monarchs and butterflies are plenteous. They put on a show of epic proportions, flitting about, telling a story of "busy, busy, busy."
I'm not a fan of the holiday season. It's too much for me, and I feel overwhelmed and lost by it. I think it's probably not at all what it should be, but people don't like change, even if that change were to improve their lives. September is that last month before the bombardment of the holidays begins. Savor and love every minute of this summer season. We are already nearly a whole week into it already; it won't last, seasons never do. I learn to live in the moment a bit more every day.
Love to you on this 26th day of June 2022. I hope you get a chance to feel the earth, catch a breeze, smell a tomato plant, and see some pollinators. It really is the best way to live.
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