Wednesday, August 08, 2007

Wilted


Around 2:30 p.m., my thermometer said 102 degrees in the shade.

I happened to go outside and discovered my pansies had nearly given up the ghost from the heat.

A water hose to the rescue!


This is what they looked like several hours after I gave them a drink.

Tonight I watered all the plants around the house just as darkness fell. Roses, hen and chicks, snap dragons, marigolds, pansies, the garden - all received a drink. I think I could hear the sizzle as the water hit the leaves, because even at 9 p.m. it was still quite warm.

The air felt thick and stiff and off in the distance I heard a coyote howl. The hair on my arms stood up as I listened. In the woods I saw shadows of deer, their heads perked up and looking my way. I counted four before the shades vanished into the evening.

The garden yielded three ruby red tomatoes. They were warm and soft from the day's heat and I could smell them on my hands as I dropped them in my gathering bag. They were my only harvest on this day, for the zucchini has been mixed in its results, the yellow squash bloomed but gave nothing to eat, and the cucumbers seem done for the season already. The lettuce refused to head and instead went straight to seed.

All in all, not a good year for garden, but I have been grateful and happy for whatever we received. The cucumbers we did get were exceptionally good (so much better than anything in the store), and the tomatoes that managed to escape from the velvety lips of the deer have been sweet and succulent.

And now it's time to lay me down to sleep, so that my own wilted stalk can awaken refreshed in the morning.

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