Sunflower

This was a beautiful Spring and I was sure that this was going to be an amazing Summer. But one day the temperature started to rise there hasn't been any relief in sight. I walked outside this morning and it feels like when you stick your head in the oven to get out a pizza. I walked out in the yard to see the deep cracks in the ground and the grass looks and feels like hay.

I am an outdoors kind of person. I love to look up at the sky and feel the breeze. I usually love the water and spend much of the summer out in the lake or pool. Recently, I haven't even enjoyed being out in the water. This heat has started to suck the energy and life out of me. I don't even attempt to go out until it is late in the evening and the sun has gone down. I have actually started to enjoy getting out of here and heading North for my trips. To be able to walk outside without melting is an amazing thing. I hate to wish my life away but I will be happy to say goodbye to the Summer of 2011.

Mike has decided not to operate the yard sprinklers anymore and I guess he is right. It really isn't worth it to waste the water. With this kind of heat you will not be able to keep the ground healthy. But I have found some pleasure in watering the flowerbeds. I just can't bear to watch them die along with everything else. I have been hand watering them in the evenings when I am home. Some of my flowers are even doing pretty well. My tomato plants look great but have yet to produce this season.

Early Summer I decided to plant some sunflower seeds because I love to look at them. It took a while, but recently they have started to bloom and they are so beautiful. Today when I walked out and the grass was crunching under my feet and I was trying to herd Shelly Bear (cat) back inside before she dies of heat stroke. I find her laying beside one of the Sunflowers that has bloomed. I looked at it and it made me happy. Something simple like this flower has taken a Summer that is in my opinion one of the worst in my history and made it special. It was the year that I grew my first Sunflower. I am hoping to grow many more Sunflowers in my lifetime. Maybe it will remind me of that Summer that we had no rain and no relief from the heat and I will appreciate the Summer's to come.