Escaping Heat Waves and Wildfire Smoke, Local Farms in Bloom, And Backyard Wildlife: deer, butterflies, birds

Me with farm kitten and dahlias @ McMurtrey’s

Escaping Heat Waves and Wildfire Smoke with Local Farms in Bloom

Well, I nearly went nuts trapped inside all week, with ninety degree temperatures and AQIs above 150. (Meanwhile, so many news updates from friends over the mountains who were having to evacuate, how hard the fires have been to contain, discussions of how this is our new normal, etc.)

But finally the smoke started to blow out on Saturday evening, and I just couldn’t wait to get out and explore! Our first stop was the newly opened McMurtrey Farm, where I got to cuddle a new farm kitten, cut some dahlias and sunflowers, and visit with the owner’s lovely family. There was still some haze even Saturday late afternoon, but it was so good to be outside again. We also went up to Bob’s Corn and Pumpkin Farm, which just re-opened to get fresh corn and pickles and kettle corn (a must for the season!)

Hot Air Balloon

Backyard Wildlife: Deer, Butterflies, Birds and Web Site Woes

Some things that we get used to in summer have returned with the good air, too: hot air balloons, local deer, and more birds. I did have some downtime during the heat and smoke to write, send out some work, and catch up on movies I hadn’t seen yet, like Supergirl and the Mandalorian movies. (For the record, I enjoyed both, but can’t say I thought they were…good? Maybe it was me being in a bad and MS-aggravated mood, but The Mandalorian and Grogu would have been better has a new season of the show, and Supergirl seemed bogged down and less fun that it should have been.) I got good news from some acceptances and bad news from some particularly disappointing rejections. But I always feel very lucky to have my garden and birds and deer—the Black-Headed Grosbeaks are going to be leaving soon and the goldfinches will be losing their color.

Is late summer a very productive time for you? For me it is a time to finish all the things I meant to do during the summer while the weather allows—like walking along Lake Washington, or going to the zoo or one of the gardens and farms I love. My intellect doesn’t work as well in the summer.I wrote a little bit while trapped in the house, but not as much as I feel I should have? There’s always this feeling of missed opportunities towards August, and also anticipating the increased work load of September.

I did also have to change web hosts this week after multiple expensive and frustrating years with HostGator, and a complete failure of this site, we switched to SiteGround, which so far has been pretty good. If there are glitches in the web site, forgive us, it’s just me and Glenn trying to fix things that have been wrong with the site for years—broken links and web mechanisms like plugins that were clunky. If you note anything, please leave a comment.

Can you believe it’s already the middle of August? I mentioned this in my last post, that though a lot of Seattle-ites lament the end of summer, I am always ready for the fall to begin. Are you ready?