This is not a normal summer, not here. And not anywhere in the US, it seems. There were big changes we could have begun years ago and didn?t. Now the heat waves are surf boarding in.
First we had the monsoon rains, for weeks. Now ? no rain at all except for a thunderstorm or two. Like the one that hit right above the house last week. O?Bryonville got rain ? not Walnut Hills. So I continue my regular round of watering, moving the hoses over the yards.
The extra heat is assisting the parasites ? like the emerald ash borer and the Japanese long-horned beetle. And all over the world, that increased heat is likely to cost us most of our frogs, while help their parasites. It?s also hurting my favorite flower in my shady yard ? the impatiens. Too much sun and too much heat for several beds, and instead of mounds of orange and white, there are patches here and there.
The collards and Russian kale love it. The regular kale is barely growing. And it?s just plain no fun to have the same too-hot weather day after day. One of my favorite things about summer has always been hot, hot days ? and then a break of cool Canadian air swooping in. Haven?t felt that in a couple of years.
Maybe we all just need a trip to Michigan?s Upper Peninsula! Or to the fast disappearing glaciers in Glacier National Park. The prediction is they may all be gone in less than a decade, certainly within 20 years. Guess we can name it Green Park or something.