According to the Farmer’s Almanac, the dog days of summer ended two weeks ago. Somebody needs to tell the dog!
The Almanac says dog days run from July 3 until August 11 and are typically the hottest part of the summer. Not true here in central Mississippi. Not this year anyway. I believe this week’s “feels like” temperatures are the worst I’ve ever felt.
That extra layer of COVID-19 cake and ice cream around the mid-section probably doesn’t help any, and mowing the field out front where there is little shade relief doesn’t either. That brings up this point of observation.
One knows that they have waited too long in between mowings, and that it is indeed dry and hot when the lawn mower muffler ignites the dry grass beneath the engine the first time. The second time the smoke and fire appear, one knows one was right!
“One” did take care of that little problem before the whole greasy thing went up in flames, and then I continued in my bush hogging ways. It was hot before the fires and it was still hot after the fires and then it rained and then it was steamy and hotter.
Somebody please tell the dog that its days ended August 11. I tried but our yard dog, that’s not really our yard dog, doesn’t like the heat any more than the rest of us and I do believe he claims that he is not the one it was named after and thus it is not his fault.
In addition to the grass problem, at this point I’m not sure if the leaves are falling because fall is nearing, or if the leaves are falling because they have dried up and given up as well.
I know for certain that the three little tomato plants that I struggled to take care of since they were seeds in a paper packet said no more over the weekend and disappeared into the earth from which they sprouted. Completely disappeared! One day they were there and still green, the next day they were gone.
Between the heat and the two fox squirrels that have homesteaded on our hill the old pear tree has just about dropped every one of its sweet, juicy treats and it appears to be giving up too.
A couple of weeks ago we picked up a basket full to keep the varmints from taking them all. Most of them had one good side and one gnawed up side, so with a little trim work we did get to have some pretty tasty pear salads a couple of nights in a row.
Sunday afternoon, and again Monday morning, there were signs of more visitors beneath that tree and strewn around the yard, and this time there was nothing but the core remaining as evidence. I suppose those squirrels, don’t care to share.
Usually it is a deer that comes calling for a snack, but this year I’ve yet to see it out beneath the tree. Somebody may have had her for dinner last winter.
It is still just a little less than a month until fall officially begins on September 22. I’m ready for it today, will be tomorrow, and was yesterday too. When it is too hot to sit on the front porch in the country with the fans blowing it is just too dad-blamed hot and that is what it is right now.
And on top of everything else, college football season begins next Saturday. We’re going to have to skip the first few games at least. You see, we do more tailgating than game watching, and these are not the best of times to be gathering in large crowds whether it be indoors or out.
Plus it’s hard enough wearing a face mask just to go to the store and pick up that cake and ice cream in this heat and humidity much less all day long under a tent on a sunny Saturday afternoon on campus. Maybe later in the year, or, maybe next year!
