There were no irises this spring.
The only one lady slipper, and something ate it.
I can count the mushrooms I’ve seen this year on my fingers.
The blueberries are little ball bearings, if when you crunched down on them they were like biting into a mummy.
There are no plums, peaches, blackberries…and half the pear tree died.
Dust rises up wherever the dirt is exposed, rock hard beneath.
Everything else is wilting, withering.
Only three bamboo sprouts tried to grow. One died three inches about the ground. One grew head high and then bent over and died. One grew, half the size of last year’s bamboo.
The farmer planted the fields, and thankfully cotton and not something like corn that would be dead in this weather, but I’ve never seen it take so long to grow.
All the animals sprawl out, not merely in the shade but on any damp ground. You won’t find anyone in the heat of the day.
Except Ryoga. I think he’s mad. 95% of his lot is in shade, his house has a porch, the wallowing area has water continuing to run into it..land the pig lies where he gets sunburned! Go figure.
I touched the feral, ferocious thug cat’s belly because he was too hot to notice as he spraddled out on the ground.
The pool keeps evaporating..two inches, now three inches, now….
How long has it been since we last had rain, or at least enough rain to actually hit the ground under the trees at all? Weeks? How many? We keep getting forecasts like “80% chance of rain” only for not a drop to fall.
Today’s high is forecast as 101F with a heat index of 108F. There is a 20% chance of rain in the evening, but I’m not holding my breath.
Or maybe I should hold my breath. Living next to a highway, across from a gas station, and a gas station with both a laundry and grill attached. Fumes. Smells. In this weather the air hates me.
Going to the woods offers no relief. Across the swamp the folks zoom around on their four wheelers, and light bon fires. Fires, in a drought, in a woods, next to a bone dry swamp…what could go wrong?
Nothing yet. Yet.
I’m lucky. The air conditioner struggles, but it takes the edge off enough I can theoretically sleep at night if I have a fan on too. Shaving off a few degrees is better than nothing.
I’m worried too. My water sputters. I have a well, so if the pump fails, if the water level falls, if….it’s all on me to sort out. I water no plants, wouldn’t dream of topping off the pool, but the animals and I need water to drink, especially in this heat.
I’m not a summer fan at the best of times, but in a drought, when I can’t sit in my living room without sweating, not that I have time to sit around my living room anyway…..
I really hate summer.
