It’s headed for 98º today.  Ninety-eight degrees.  In October.  The next few days will continue in the high 80s, but then something weird will happen–after the weekend it’s supposed to go from 80s to 68 in one day, with rain?!  I’ll believe it when I see it.  After that it will remain in the mid-70s to 80s for over a week.  The average for mid-October here is 71º.

If anyone is reading this, let me suggest providing fresh drinking water for critters in your yard when it’s so hot and dry like this.  It’s hard for them to find moisture, even in plants right now.  They will thank you by surviving to play their essential interdependent roles preserving our environment and food sources.

In that vein, here’s yesterday’s icy old-fashioned, and some persistent flowers.  I think I saw one lonely monarch butterfly in the field today, but it got away.