Monday, July 22, 2013

Relief, but still summer


Looking down my driveway
The big July heat wave finally broke with the arrival of some dramatic lightning and thunder. One of my younger cats was terrified, hiding under the stairs and meowing piteously during the worst of the storm. I lost power briefly but suffered no damage.


Now weather has returned to normal summer temperatures, though it’s still too hot and too humid for my tastes. Even so, the weather is now cool enough that I could work outside in the early mornings, tossing out some old and crumbling plywood and doing some basic clean-up. Around the cabin not all is yet dried out, so I limit my work to areas that aren’t muddy or at least soft. Still, it felt good to accomplish something.

It’s hard for me to believe it, but summer is only one-third over. I feel as though I’ve been stuck in summer for way too long. I’m not a summer person. I’ve never been a summer person. Hot and humid weather keeps me from fully enjoying being in the woods. I love to hike up a long hill in cool weather, but when it’s hot I’m ready to quit before I’ve begun. Worse, there isn’t any interesting birding around until fall migration begins. This year has produced a plethora of tiger swallowtails and spice bush swallowtails, so that’s something, but even that can’t make up for it being so hot.

The evenings are especially uncomfortable, even when I’ m sitting still. Sunset doesn’t induce much cooling until the early morning hours. I hope this cooler weather will make for some slightly cooler evenings. I’d like to sit outside and watch the day come to a close some evening. Perhaps it would work better if I could lounge outside at 5 a.m., when it is cool. Lounging, however, is an activity best done at the end of the day. Lounging in the morning just seems wrong.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hi Carolyn,

I found your blog while looking for an ID on an orange moth I trapped last night. It's been very hot here in the UK for the past fortnight too, due to break tomorrow with thunderstorms- some things are the same where ever you live! CT :-)

Scott said...

We just got a bit of thunder on Saturday night, Carolyn, with no rain. However, the Taylor Swift concert in south Philadelphia was delayed for 90 minutes by a thunderstorm, so it all depended on where you were.

I agree that the weather, while better, is still too hot and muggy to get me motivated. And, even if the temperature is more moderate as dusk approaches, that's when the hordes of mosquitoes emerge in my garden. Sit on my porch in the evening near dusk? Fa'ged'aboud'it!

Carolyn H said...

Countryside: I hope your weather broke. Mine finally did and it's such a relief!

Carolyn H said...

Scott: I suppose I could sit outside if I was covered with mosquito goop, but that's not my preferred way of enjoying the outdoors! I have a citronella candle that helps a little bit.