finally

it has been so dadgum hot this june.

~

hot&humid

hot&dry

as in no rain

no cold front

just heat & more of it

the next day

& the next.

~

so i've stayed inside

or run errands that keep me

in air-conditioning.
~
& watched the
weeds and vines and critters
act as if the yard
was theirs
or something.

~
finally
the cold front has pushed through
with torrential downpour.
and, now, clear blue skies
and a dry summer wind
pulled me
finally
into the garden.

a tangle of vines not unlike rapunzel's long hair thrown down from her tower

i unearthed the clear plastic pitcher

& have been enjoying some solar tea

the dry heat this june finally withered the sugar snap peas i planted, so i pulled them all out of the ground last week.  the butterfly bushes are already blooming but are stunted in their growth compared to last year.  and the unplanned-unplanted goldenrod is half my height, where last summer it was a small yellow-tasseled forest.  but nothing's really perished.  in fact, my birthday gardenia, which struggled to survive the winter under my darwinian care, has sprouted a multitude of bright green leaves.  & some happy-surprise flowers from wildflower seeds i tossed along the driveway last year re-bloomed and spread this year!  we inherited such a regimented yard ~ lines of camellias along the house, changing to azaleas along the back porch, laurels and hollies along the front.  lovely plants, but i prefer more of a hodge-podge aesthetic ~ so the surprises always make me smile.

wild(ish) sunflowers along the driveway, sprouting up at the base of some azaleas

 the birdhouse has fallen silent.

i am worried about what i will discover

when i clean it out this fall.

i know there were babies in it

(a tufted titmouse finally claimed the home),

but they stopped incessantly chirping

& mother/father stopped coming

about two weeks ago.

~

silent birdhouse with little woodpecker searching for insects nearby

i am amazed that this little violet has survived my care.  i plopped it on the back porch & have attempted to water it from the base ~ and it continues to live.  even, it seems, becoming a little big for its pot.  the leaves are starting to stand upright, showing a blush of purple underbelly to the sun.

 which brings me to this.

we have baby rabbits.

plural.

& they don't appear too frightened of us.

~

walking in our yard

or doing gardening along the sides,

stepping into vines & tree-wannabes,

is an exercise in caution

else you fall into a rabbit hole.

or at least stumble a bit.

 little rabbit munching

rather unconcerned

that a large, omnivorous mammal

is watching.

it was so pleasing to be in the garden today!  i will be back at it tomorrow, as the heat returns on tuesday.  after a somewhat nasty gash on my right knee gardening a couple of weeks ago in a skirt, i wisely wore long pants today.  no socks inside my gardening clogs, so i did end up with somewhat muddy feet.  something to show for it all, i suppose.