Sundries, Heated to a Crisp

That's Bob standing next to a gigantic self-sown squash plant that is swallowing the compost pile. The leaves are like three feet across. We sure hope the squash itself is edible after all the energy expended in the prodigious growth!
I'm not going to post and re-post the pictures from the many days that the thermometer registered well over 90 degrees and frequently topping 100. The last two weeks... ay!!Suffice it to say that a day of mere mid-80 degree weather would feel cool and lovely. Don't expect any original thoughts until such time.

Another angle of that man-eating squash... Sus-Squash! It grows about four feet a day.
So I've been rendered stupid by the heat (and I know I have company!) and this blog posting will reflect that. I could continue to rebuke the current administration at every turn, (and they deserve active rebukes when you consider Federal troops being deployed the West Coast, the continuing surge of  COVID 19, rethuglican members of Congress refusing to extend increased unemployment compensation... the list goes on and on) but might sick up all over the keyboard. I will not even add more as steam will begin to billow from one ear and blood will trickle from the other one. (Although on a happier note, the ringing in my left ear that has persisted for a million years now is suddenly... GONE! Even if this is temporary and it returns, having a few days off is heaven!)
Oh and I bought a horse:

How's that for a non-sequitur?

My good friend Laurie (Hi Laurie!) bought me this inflatable horse last year for my birthday. I blew it up and installed it in my studio and promptly freaked Robin out; dogs can be very conservative! Bob observed that this particular horse is very well-behaved and low maintenance!
More on the actual horse in my next post! I am starting on that string of polo ponies I threatened to buy!

Eine Kleine Klimawandel*

Does it do anything besides rain? Poor Maggie looked the picture of discomfort and seems to be saying, "Enough!" I changed her blanket three times (!!!) yesterday. At least she was dry underneath. (And don't forget: she could go stand in her barn, but no, she chooses to remain outside.) I thought she might drown. (1)
Which of course leads us to the bigger question: why are we having so much rain? And need I remind you that it is January and this should be snow or at least icy "mixed precipitation". Instead we get (relatively) mild temperatures and Biblical flood amounts of rain. And it doesn't stop. (2)

Here's our stream which has now widened into a cousin of the mighty Mississippi River. When we first moved here, we wondered if it might be a seasonal stream as it was modest and could easily have dried to a trickle in drought years. Instead, it roars (you can hear it from the house) and Bob's bridges have been washed out several times this year. In the above picture, the bridge should be across the stream where the first arrow is. Instead, it's been carried twenty feet down stream and deposited on the bank. That took some serious water power! Bob is now talking of engineering a major footing and constructing an improved span along the lines of the Brooklyn Bridge.
So this leads to my humble opinion- openly opposed by some!- that Climate Change is real and is here... in our back yard. I really don't want to hear shit from deniers out there; you're wrong about our planet. It's a mess and we're all experiencing this disaster first hand. Additional precipitation, rain instead of snow, a swollen stream- these are small potatoes compared to the raging fires out west, the hurricanes down south and the melting polar cap up north. (And don't forget that we had a tornado this past May). But it's all part of a bigger, nastier picture of a rapidly, radically changing world.

Even the lower part of Maggie's field is under water. This puddle is more typical of late April after Spring rain than early January! So we slog forward, hoping that the newly seated Congress (yay! More women! More people of color! More diversity!!) takes some kind of Green action; there's rumbling about that! Let's sign back on to the Paris Climate Accord, let's rive smaller cars! Let's DO SOMETHING before it's waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay too late! (3)



*Oh that's German for Climate Change... I'm just riffing on "Eine Kleine Nacht Musik" (Mozart).

(1) Yes, Maggie is still with us. That's another whole discussion...

(2) But at least it's not snow! Oooh, I feel so guilty saying that. On the one hand, we should be getting snow. On the other hand I'm glad we're not (groan). I'm just not fond of snow, especially if I have to drive in it...

(3) Look at this! Four footnotes! I just wanted to apologize for my last couple of posts. I had a head cold and was none too swift and couldn't think- or write- coherently.