This heat has me rethinking my day. While I make local deliveries, I drive a little slower than usual. I crank the air and People Brothers Band and take my time. As I drive across the ridge, I see cattle swamping themselves in muddy water and horses switching flies away with an agitated edge. I’m grateful to not be among them, however, I know I will be soon. I come across a small Amish cart and pony driven by remarkably young captains, maybe 8? I better slow down a bit more. Within the next mile, a yearling whitetail jumped into the road ahead of me, giving me all the more reason/excuse to make my way home to the heat at a lackadaisical pace. When I finally hop out of the air conditioned car back at Keewaydin, the temperature change is staggering. I find that Aurora has been running the window AC unit in the downstairs bedroom and taking “breaks” from the heat in our one small refuge of cool air. I know Rufus isn’t going to like that, but I didn’t turn it off. Instead, I took a few turns in there myself. The greenhouses are absolutely off limits at this point. Its all I can take just to get the water going on those poor babies. I drag my whole seeding set up to a picnic table in the shade and crack open a cold beer. It’s tolerable. I linger a bit too long in the shade because I know the next task is weeding in the sunny garden. I pop on an oversized sun hat (Rufus finally sold me on the farmer hat thing) dose myself with a thick layer of gnat spray and brave the afternoon heat. I weed a few beds and soon the heat begins to relent. I drug my feet just long enough to escape the most intense midday heat, my crowning achievement of the day.    

~Joy