Mesmerizing August heat

Mesmerized by a shred of a willow leaf snagged on a spider's web, spinning like an ice dancer in the hot breeze, it felt as if I was melting into the cement step.

Watching the white cabbage moths darting through the air above the garden from the cement steps out back they appeared to be a fluttering white mass of snowflakes among the petals of the blooming flowers.

It was too hot to get up, so I imagined the slithering earwigs munching lacy patterns in the kale, and the slimy slurp of the slug as it devoured the most succulent tips of my baby zucchini.

Bee Balm with setting sun back lighting it.

Thoughts of the crunching sound the squat oval caterpillars would be making while they gobbled the beans, their fuzzy hairs turned a bilious shade of pink ran through my head.

It was just too hot to do anything about it

So I mentally squished them instead and crossed that off of my list.

A black crow drooped morosely on the potting bench while prising open a peanut shell hoping to find a crackerjack surprise inside. His gurgle and caws spiked the air. With a guttural clack, he spread vast wings and transversed the backyard on his way to dine out in the privacy of the branches of the giant fir tree. The air was still, even with his movement.

The variegated dogwood bush next to the potting bench jerked like a string puppet from side to side, delicate foliage waving as tiny chickadees moved from branch to branch, chirping with delight at the water drops I had sprinkled there to aid the drooping leaves.

My first errand on this trip outdoors had been to find the water hose until the burning of the suns rays drove me back to the cement steps to cool down.

The breeze appeared again, laden with smoke and hot as the heat from a dryer. It hung on the air like drying laundry and was about as useful. I drooped like the crow.

Tepid water dripping from the hose still in my hand turning hotter as the glistening drops fell to the earth..an ever so faint cloud formed over the faraway mountains renewed hope for a change in the weather.

The crow gave off an annoyed caw to discourage spectators while dining, so I got up from the cement steps and went back inside to the cool of the house.

Mid August and more to come they said...but changes were in the air.

Jen @ Rural

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