It's supposed to stay mild for the next couple of days, and then get cooler on Saturday. The nights could drop down into the high fifties. Sunday is expected to start warming again, but it won't get really hot again until next week. I'm happy to get a few days respite. A cool morning should give me a chance to rake up all the oak leaves that have fallen prematurely during the heat wave. The disadvantage of that will be that raking will uncover the lawn that is rapidly turning brown. The ground cover under the bushes is about to die back, too, and the bushes themselves aren't looking any too good. I gave them a bit of water again tonight, as once the bushes die they are gone for good, and they would be costly to replace. The yard would look truly forlorn without them.
There's been a haze in the air all afternoon and it seems to be getting thicker, though the forecast predicts a clear night. Th haze is giving the sky a pinkish cast despite the absence of any real clouds. The crescent moon would be visible if the pine trees weren't in the way, but I'll probably get a look at it tomorrow or the next night, if I get outside early enough. I can't hear the crickets over the noise of all the air conditioners that are still running. My fan adds a bit of noise, but isn't near as loud as the air conditioners.
The air is perfectly still, and I wish a breeze would come up. Even if I can't hear the crickets it would be nice to hear the leaves rustle, before they're all gone. At the rate they've been falling it won't take many more really hot days to noticeably diminish the shade from the trees. Plus I'd much rather rake them up in the cool of autumn than the heat of summer. And here we are only into the third week of the hellish season.
I need a glass of lemonade.