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Report from Points South of Lake Wobegon

Report From Points South Of Lake Woebegon
Published 8/04/15


Wednesday 8/4/2015 Sunny, Hot and Humid

Do you know that feeling you get when you step into a cool lake on a hot summer's day? Your body reacts as it senses a major attack on the status quo. Its system clinches as your bloodstream speeds up its job of circulating not only nourishment but controlling your body temperature. Imagine that feeling, only in reverse.
Every morning, I open the patio door to let Lucy, my dog, out for her morning stroll. The heat and humidity roll through the door opening like a wave on a beach.
Later, I will take my breakfast and my second cup of coffee out the same door. I read while I consume my cereal, toast, or whatever... Inside of a few minutes, I've acclimated to the heat and humidity, to the point I don't even notice it. Note: I'm not in the sun. Our deck has an awning. I'm not exerting myself. If I mow the lawn, I will sweat like a hog. But I am getting used to it. It is the new normal.

Saturday 8/8/2015 Sunny, Hot Humid
We have, in our backyard,  one of the dirtiest trees you can possibly have in this climate. It's called a Sweet Gum Tree or The Louisiana Trash Tree. The leaves that are falling now are about the size of an adult hand. They are brown, brittle, and thick. The biggest problem with them is they don't disintegrate. They simply lay on the ground or in a pile like a sheaf of paper. I would feed them into a chipper if I had one.

The seed pods remind me of the sea urchins I saw in the British Virgin Islands when I was snorkeling. They are golf ball size and strong little devils. If you step on them, they don't crush, so turning an ankle is a possibility. Because of the spines that protrude off of their  skin,

I had raked the morning before, and the little devils are falling again.


I using my collectible Alterra Coffee cup and my current favorite southern writer's novel to show the size of the Sweet Gum seed pods that terrorize my yard.

I have even had them stick to the bottom of my shoe. If I rake them up, I can guarantee that there will be a fresh fall of them the next day.

We got rain this evening. Nine o'clock and the lightning started, then the sudden and close roar of thunder. Now the downpour has passed. It only lasted about fifteen minutes. We hear the departing storm firing gunshot sounding cracks of lightning.

Sunday 8/9/2015 Overcast Misty Rain, Hot, Humid 
II woke up this morning. Apparently, it rained pretty much through the night. It resulted in a first for us since we moved here. This morning, we had overcast skies. Don't sound like much, and except that we are under an extreme heat warning, it could be a headline.

Ya' ll take care now. Ya hear.


Comments

  1. Dan PAugust 10, 2015 at 7:28 PM

    The Sweet Gum Tree sounds like the cousin of the dirty Cottonwood tree.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Dan PAugust 10, 2015 at 7:28 PM

    The Sweet Gum Tree sounds like the cousin of the dirty Cottonwood tree.

    ReplyDelete

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