Summer Dormancy

Oh my ...the heat...

the relentless heat.

It just seems to have been escalating for some time. Who'd o' thunk the year would have turned as it did?

This heat, 30? 40? days now? The record is 50 100 degree days in 1983. We're likely to break it still being in July. Bambi is doing pretty fine with the amount of pasture to eat on now, but I'm hearing cattle will need to be fed EARLY this year, and that's IF they can find a grower that hasn't been hit by the drought with no hay to sell!

Walking out to the ponds this evening I didn't see Bambi tonight. The fences are good so I'm sure she's fine. She's been out to say hi close to the house then off she goes as usual. People are saying the heat is cooking the grass at an enormous rate so she's probably foraging quite nicely. Grasshoppers are CRAZY this year!!! Luckily they've stayed clear of the garden but the flowers are fair game. If the grasshoppers could only be trained to mow the lawn.. :)

The pond has such a layer of green over it, not moss but that layer of tiny leaves that float on the water. But the SMELL of the grass was so sweet and fragrant this evening... I didn't walk far but it was far enough to inhale the heat of summer permeating off the native plants baking..no, sauteing in the humidity.

We found the feathers of the hen that I had to let loose because she was so henpecked on her scalp (chickens just do that when they decide a pecking order). I didn't have the heart to put her down so just had to let her go loose and probably a coyote got her. I've been told to watch for coyotes..

And then there is Barron.

That baby doll of a dog that thought Daisy was a Goddess, following and worshiping her every move... was hit by a car this week. Amber, Camaron, me and Daisy and the rest are very devastated. Daisy went everywhere with him. She is so sad after losing her best friend. They were the most odd couple and since he is gone she has been so depressed...

On a HAPPIER note!!

Amber and Camaron got married!!! They drove all the way to Lake Tahoe and got married at the chapel that me and my ex got married at, my mom and Earl got married at, AND her Aunt Rita and Jay got married at! It was a whirlwind vacation and the reception out here is coming. :) Woot Woot!!

Summer 2011

Summer night on the 4th of July

Aaahh.. finally home from work.

A rushed exit after a rushed and hurried day. My weekend off went by too fast, not a lot to show for it but went swimming at Bettys, got the garden perked up with soaker hoses and a boost of good soil, even found time to meditate and made salsa for the potluck today.

Today just seemed so ... I don't know.

Coming home to Daisy lifted my spirits. She doesn't take well to the sounds of fireworks (or gunshots, or thunder, etc..) She's been by my side all night, protecting me of course! We went out to watch the fireworks this evening, just before sunset.

The sky changed color by the minute, no..by the second! Blue to pink to orange..the distant pockets of thunder showers were too far away bring any relief by way of rain, but they made for a nice sunset on the horizon none the less. The fireworks started early, seems like it's earlier every year. The whiporwills were calling their songs back and forth, bullfrogs from the pond by the barn were calling to bullfrogs in the little pond, who croaked back again their call...and it went on and on... :)

The silloette of the weeping willow towering over the chicken coop, as roosters crowed (yes there are two of them and they have "an understanding") but still insist on crowing competition. (For the record, the little rooster is over compensating with his voice, not judging, just sayin )

The crescent moon is shining brighter through the willow branches, waxing on it's way to a full moon in a couple of weeks. In the mean time the air smells of summer. You can breath in the scent of hot grass that has been baking through another day of 100 degrees or better, ..another one! Yesterday was 104 and something about the air in the summer evenings as it cools gives off the smell of summer. The plants tell you, "yeah, it was HOT again today but smell this! We adapt!" And so, they teach us to adapt through smell. We seem to forget every year, forgetting with each season's harshness, whining about how "bad" this or that season is, the plants remind us that this is how it is every year. The sounds, smells, feelings, remembrances, fireflies, the air nudging you to inhale deeply and remember! Then a heron flew over, solitary, (odd, I never see them fly in pairs, just alone) on his way to where he would settle for the night.

The fireworks continued to peak. Daisy at my feet turning her head towards each direction, not so much "oohing and aaahhhing" just noticing. Then looking up at me, like "have you had your fill yet?" It was funny that she at least watched them with me by my side.

I put misters around the patio now, an extra air conditioner in the kitchen since the house got to over 90 degrees inside with these 100 degree days. It's comfy now. It's quiet though. Work is work but the time spent at the art gallery was amazingly like fireworks. The fireworks that shot up high in the sky, exploding with peacock tails in every burst. Cloud formations of dragon shapes watching in awe as each exploded in random direction.

I want to be that burst of light in the middle of those fireworks...