Here it is, 12:30 p.m., and I am still sitting on the back porch. The shade won’t last much longer out here, my fingers and feet are beginning to swell, and the air is beginning to feel oppressive. After I type this paragraph I will pull the cabana curtains across the deck, bundle my stuff into my arms, and head for the air-conditioned inner sanctum of Mist Cottage. I have enjoyed sitting out here on the back porch all morning, watching the wind blow in the trees, the flowers sway in the wind, the hummingbirds and butterflies, the birds, and Attila working away at the exterior finishes of the garage. But alas, the heat is chasing me away!
I feel thoroughly refreshed for having sat outside for over six hours!
The garden is beginning to gift us food. This morning breakfast consisted of a toasted tomato sandwich, with a plump, juicy, red tomato from the garden. There are Scarlet Runner Beans sitting in the refrigerator, washed and prepped for tonight’s Instant Pot dinner. All morning I have been snacking on the last of the edible pod peas. Since the rabbits and/or squirrels killed most of the Edible Pod Pea plants, the few remaining plants have yielded only a few handfuls of peas, which I have been washing and eating raw.
This morning, while enjoying my view of the back yard from the porch, I decided to try to identify some of the weeds that constitute our “lawn”. Plantain is prominent close to the porch, along with Wild Violets, Dandelions, and Bindweed. We have several huge Catnip plants in the yard, one near the back fence, and the other up against the porch. Further out there are Wild Strawberries, Purslane, Birdsfoot Trefoil, Crabgrass, a variety of other native grasses, one huge blooming Elecampane, Hawkweed, White Clover, Michaelmas Daisy, Burdock, one large Jacob’s Ladder, Common Mallow, Ragweed, Queen Anne’s Lace, and Chicory. On a cooler day I may go out into the yard for a closer look, to hunt down other plant species that live there.
It is just too hot to attempt activities like visiting a park, shopping, taking a country drive. When 23C feels like sitting in a refrigerator, you know it is hot outside.
It is a statutory holiday here in Ontario. But the poor fellas working on the new subdivision are not enjoying it. They are working hard, and making a lot of noise while doing it. I can’t imagine what is like for them today, toiling in the hot sun, in this heat and humidity.
Ontario peaches are on sale at our local grocery, so on Saturday we purchased a 4 quart basket. They were a bit green, but this morning they are perfectly ripe. Attila has been eating them out of hand, and I have peeled two to make myself a peach smoothie for my lunch. I love peach season in Ontario! We grew a few peaches on the farm where I grew up, but the best peaches were on the trees at my paternal Grandparents farm. There is no peach for sale in a retail outlet that can compare with a juicy ripe peach picked fresh from, and eaten in the shade of, a peach tree.
Wishing you all comfort, wherever you are. Safety from the fires raging across many areas of the Northern Hemisphere, the stifling heat in some areas, and many other environmental challenges that plague Mother Earth during this record-breaking summer.
Weather Perspective
“A humidex over 40 is considered to be extreme and Environment Canada recommends that all unnecessary outdoor activity be curtailed under those conditions. When the humidex reaches the mid to upper 30s, rigorous outdoor activity should be reduced with special attention paid to the age and health of the individual.”
“As oppressive as the humidex has been this summer, it has been worse in Canada in the past. On June 20, 1953, Windsor Ontario had a humidex of 52.1 and on July 25, 2007, Carman, Manitoba reached 53.0.”
Humidex and Degree Chart of Comfort
Source: https://www.theweathernetwork.com/news/articles/humidex-vs-heat-index-whats-the-difference/10243
The humidex is the heat the body percieves and reacts to, so that a humidex of 43C will, in theory, have the same effect on the body as 43C temperature where there is no effect on the body due to humidity. For the purposes of our body’s needs, a humidex temperature is comparable to an actual temperature where humidity is not a factor for the body.
Worldly Distractions
Weather
33°C (34°C at the Rideau Camp)
Date: 1:45 PM EDT Monday 6 August 2018
Condition: Mostly Cloudy
Pressure: 101.6 kPa
Tendency: Falling
Temperature: 29.6°C
Dew point: 23.7°C
Humidity: 70%
Wind: SSW 18 gust 30 km/h
Humidex: 42 (43 at the Rideau Camp)
Visibility: 19 km
Quote
“I am an expression of the divine, just like a peach is, just like a fish is. I have a right to be this way…I can’t apologize for that, nor can I change it, nor do I want to… We will never have to be other than who we are in order to be successful…We realize that we are as ourselves unlimited and our experiences valid. It is for the rest of the world to recognize this, if they choose.”
Alice Walker
1944 –
I’d want to make a peach pie!
Maggie, thank you so much for the Alice Walker quote. What a great way to start a Tuesday.
Sounds like you’ve had some lovely garden time. I love sitting in a garden and just enjoying the sights and sounds.
Oh Bex, peach pie!!! I love peach pie! Goodness, what to do, now I am thinking about peach pie! lol
Wendy, glad you enjoyed the quote. Alice Walker is a very special woman, so much that is wonderful comes out of her heart and mind.
Teri, the garden is a magical place isn’t it. I imagine your cottage offers you a second special place to be in the world!
I envy you you ability to grow your food! I did that many, many years ago, and will never forget the freshness and wonderful taste! Thanks for reminding me…
I see road workers working in our terrible Yuma heat. I even feel bad for walkers without a hat. (I can almost see your beautiful yard.) I love the Alice Walker quote, too.
Diane, i would miss having a garden, we could not pull it off at the country house, which was on the Canadian Shield, but here at Mist Cottage Attila has his chance. Second best would be having a great farmer’s market nearby, not the craft show farmer’s markets, but the one’s where there are mainly farmers selling their wares. I also enjoyed the little groceries on Bloor Street in Toronto, where there was always a lot of produce on display along the street, cornucopia.
Joan, I don’t know how they work in the heat! I did it when I was a child, and in my teens, then occasionally during my adult years. The sun is more unforgiving now, UV indexes at the top of the scale every day.
I love the yard here, looking at it gives me such pleasure! It isn’t special in any particular way, just in that it is there to be appreciated.
Alice Walker never hits a sour note as far as I’ve read her words. That would be because she is true of heart, and has personal integrity, there is no hidden agenda to leak through to the page.