The Dog Days of Summer

The hot and humid dog days of summer are here up in the mountains of Tennessee. This is the time where you watch where you step when out walking in the woods as this time of the year snakes shed their skin and are rather quick to strike if they get taken by surprise. During these days any garden work or harvesting is done early in the morning as the heat lays close to the mountain even at night instead of breaking its hold and cooling down like usual. Even the breezes only waft the hot air around hardening the ground as the earth waits for a summer shower to appear on the horizon. Our dogs lay lifeless seeking a cool spot to snooze the day away while the hens scratch listlessly in the dirt.





My plum trees were loaded with branches reaching down to the ground as grapes ripened on the vine. I was plum busy canning plums and making jam for a couple of weeks. Only the hardiest of flowers: Queen Ann’s Lace, Holly Hocks, Bee Balm, Lilies, Spider Flowers, Touch-Me-Not, Phlox, and Cosmos continue to bloom during the heat of summer while colorful butterflies and buzzing bees flit from flower to flower.





One of the miracles of summertime that I always look forward to is my Miracle Lilies that poke their green leaves up through the ground in the spring, die down, and then bloom on tall slender stalks about the time tiny birds begin their first venture outside the nest from which they hatched to begin their fledging flight. Yes, even though we are in the middle of summer there is still a lot of life and activity up here in the mountains.