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Où sont les papillons du mois de Juillet?
Where have all the butterflies gone? When we first got our little parcel of topsoil, the Old Man said he wanted something to attract them. So I planted chives and bee balm (Monarda). Powdery mildew afflicted the latter so we gave up on them. More to the point, though, they never attracted any bees and butterflies.
At the time I ascribed this to being an outpost in a desert of asphalt. If you were a nectar-seeking insect cruising down the parkway, how would you know that turning in at the alley would lead you to a refreshing oasis of purple blossoms? But one of the houses further east on Arthur has a magnificent front garden (curse y'all with your south-facing lawns!) in full bloom with a conspicuous stand of horsemint, but not a wingèd creature in sight. Have we poisoned them all?
Sure, the heat and humidity are staggering these days, but yesterday we had some blessed relief. Cold air blew over us from the Lake, bringing fog along with it; eating on the porch was quite pleasant. I don't think you'll find us doing that again for a bit. I was out there with![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
monshu at 3:30 this morning, though, rescuing some items left there that I thought he'd overlook from the storm.
Like last Monday's, this one was over almost as soon as it began: fifteen minutes, start to finish. Unlike that one, there was thunder and lightning but almost no wind. The rain poured down in lines almost perpendicular to the ground. Kitten must be upset with my rearrangements in the bedroom closet because now he goes to the coat closet in the front hall to hide. I successfully coaxed him out only minutes after the storm had ended.
So it will be a steamy day for our annual staff picnic. I can't imagine the grass will have dried out by this afternoon either. Should make the water balloon toss even more interesting.
At the time I ascribed this to being an outpost in a desert of asphalt. If you were a nectar-seeking insect cruising down the parkway, how would you know that turning in at the alley would lead you to a refreshing oasis of purple blossoms? But one of the houses further east on Arthur has a magnificent front garden (curse y'all with your south-facing lawns!) in full bloom with a conspicuous stand of horsemint, but not a wingèd creature in sight. Have we poisoned them all?
Sure, the heat and humidity are staggering these days, but yesterday we had some blessed relief. Cold air blew over us from the Lake, bringing fog along with it; eating on the porch was quite pleasant. I don't think you'll find us doing that again for a bit. I was out there with
monshu at 3:30 this morning, though, rescuing some items left there that I thought he'd overlook from the storm.Like last Monday's, this one was over almost as soon as it began: fifteen minutes, start to finish. Unlike that one, there was thunder and lightning but almost no wind. The rain poured down in lines almost perpendicular to the ground. Kitten must be upset with my rearrangements in the bedroom closet because now he goes to the coat closet in the front hall to hide. I successfully coaxed him out only minutes after the storm had ended.
So it will be a steamy day for our annual staff picnic. I can't imagine the grass will have dried out by this afternoon either. Should make the water balloon toss even more interesting.