107 Days of Awful ...

For years, October 1st has been my personal benchmark for fall on my corner of Katy. As I was painfully reminded on that date last year, though, fall does not arrive with the turn of a calendar page. It was a typical hot and humid Houston summer morning today and nothing out of the ordinary occurred to make me crankier than any other summer day. But when I came in from the garden, I found myself looking at the calendar and counting just many days I could continue to expect such infelicitous gardening weather. 107 days of awful ... that's what we have left.

Yes, there's a lot to celebrate in the garden despite the hideosity of Houston's summer weather. Tomorrow is Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day and I'll share some of the beauty on my corner of Katy with you then. I've been chided recently for not having an attitude as sunny as this summer day. But little Mary Sunshine I am not and whining/moaning about the weather is one of the ways I'm able to continue living here. I acknowledge the awful as well as the sublime ... I threaten to run away to Hawaii, where at least summer's heat and humidity are offset by the beach and the ocean and tropical breezes (not to mention Kalapawai Market, the most awesome convenience store in existence) ... or I abdicate all responsibilities to curl up and read in the coolest corner of the house, where my sofa is conveniently situated. We all have our coping strategies: these are some of mine.

Today I'm adding one more: you'll see a new gadget in the sidebar, counting down the days until October 1st!

Comments

Cypresslily said…
Love, love the posts. Went back and read each and every one of them. After our miserable plant killing winter, I promised not to complain about our Texas heat until the middle of June. As of today I no longer have to be quiet about my dislike of this 90+ degree weather. One good thing about the early heat, I have more tomatoes than ever and they are wonderful! Plants in my garden are on their own now after 9am until we have a break in temp.
I know, I know! Every single summer, I find myself saying (out loud) "surely it's never been this hot before in May" or June or this early in the morning or this late at night or for this many days or whatever. You know what? It's just awful here in the summer -- it's true!
Hang on -- only 107 more awful days left....
Elizabeth
Annie in Austin said…
It's so hot and buggy! Should we quote Henry Mitchell in The Essential Earthman to each other?

It is not nice to garden anywhere.

Annie at the Transplantable Rose
I was sooo looking forward to winter ending, and I truly enjoyed spring--but my flowers look terrible now. I was almost in tears yesterday. I water them-- it's the darn heat that is getting to them. Without the tree in back, the poor things are getting that dreaded west sun. Ugh...we still have August too! Double ugh!!