It was just a couple of weeks ago when we in southwestern Ohio boasted high temps in the upper 70s and nights cooling into the 50s with glorious high blue skies all day. Oh, the joy of cool summer high pressure systems!
And then -- it seemed overnight -- we morphed into the June from hell with triple digit highs and muggy and warm nighttime lows. So much for leaving the windows open.
I am indeed one of those tree hugging types who thinks the planet is warming up too fast due to our industrial lifestyles. Yes, Earth has been this hot before; and yes, planet temperatures fluctuate in very long cycles that take millennia to complete. From my understanding, though, our home planet has not seen such a change in conditions in such a short period of time ever before. Why should we not be held responsible?
To complete this thought, let me say, too, that one would be remiss to blame our warmer than normal winter and extreme summer temps strictly on global warming. I believe the Earth is one heck of a complex system with a myriad shifting parts. Were this past weekends two summer windstorms a product of global warming, or just the roll of the planet’s dice? Don’t know. Still, it seems goofy to me for us to ignore all the carbon we release into the atmosphere, knowing the alterations it can make, and assume we’re doing just fine and there’s no need to adjust how we live. Just sayin’...
With all of this in mind, though, I made an effort to sit outside in the extreme warmth the last couple of afternoons to just let the heat soak into my body. Kind of like my enjoying going out to walk in the snow, I suspect. It’s sensible to stay indoors when weather gets extreme, but for me, I like to get out and feel it a bit.
Don’t get me wrong. I’m no brute. I sat in the shade as much as I could, and after an hour or so, I retreated back into air conditioned comfort. The thought did come to mind, though, how hard it would have been to have no fans, no air conditioner, no ice in the refrigerator -- no electricity -- like so many of my neighbors are dealing with. Right now a neighbor’s small freezer has been relocated into our garage for the plug-in power to save all therein from spoiling.
Originally I thought I’d title this blog ‘An hour on the back porch @ 102 degrees.’ I did, in fact, sit on the back porch in said heat for more than an hour actually. Some of that time was tending the burgers on the grill, but I was there mostly to do what I like to do most afternoons: sit in the presence of Nature and observe the many beings who venture in to take some sustenance from both what Cindy Lou and I offer and what Wild Grace gives on its own. For us in summer, it’s mostly fresh water at the birdbaths -- an upper stone dish with a water dripper, and lower basin to catch overflow and aid the folks who can’t get to the upper dish. We feed a bit, but only sweetwater for the humming birds. We keep the sunflower seeds, peanuts, and suet for winter feeding. I trust there’s enough natural food out there for everybody.
So how does Nature survive in such heat? We do our best to water the rooted people in our little patch of Wild Grace. The tomatoes, I have to say, are going great, but then they have a reputation for liking lots of sun. Cone flowers, black-eyed susans, and day lilies are doing okay, too, getting deep watering every couple of days.
But what of the mobile members of Nature? Here’s a list of what I witnessed in my hour in the heat on the porch:
- White breasted nuthatch working the bark on a maple tree
- A couple chipping sparrows grazing the patio
- Ubiquitous Carolina chickadees flying in to the water
- Ruby throated hummingbirds up to the sweetwater about every 5 minutes (And yes, they fought over it, as you might expect.)
- Tufted titmouse family at the birdbath (I have been watching these parents and kids work the yard for food and instruction over the last week.)
- Gray catbird (A rather nice find. We don’t see these guys all that often. Must be the water feature.)
- A half dozen or so American goldfinches
- A few American robins (Man, do these guys splash a lot!)
- A pair of Northern cardinals
- A three-some of house finches. (Two females, one male. Makes a guy wonder....)
- A chipmunk coming into the lower basin
- A few bees and insects coming to the water, but I couldn’t tell you who they were.
- Two red squirrels
- Four gray squirrels
So as bad as we think it might be at 100+ degrees, the critters seem to take it all in stride. And as always, it is very entertaining to sit still and watch ‘em work at making their living. Bless their little hearts.
Today’s Elder Idea: When I touch that flower, I am touching infinity. I learn what I know by watching and loving everything.
George Washington Carver
image: Neighborhood damage from the Friday, 29 June, storm.
No comments:
Post a Comment