Wednesday, July 20, 2022

Mona Lisa Dog Butt


I call this photo "Dog Butt with Dahlias." It's every bit as mysterious and enigmatic as the Mona Lisa, wouldn't you say? That is a dog butt worthy of Leonardo.

That was my view as I sat in the garden yesterday morning finishing "The Tender Bar." Olga was not put off by our heat wave. As usual, she moved between the shade and the sun -- perhaps the only difference was that while she usually favors the sun, yesterday she stuck mostly to the shade. I doused her with cool water from the hose in the early afternoon and though she didn't seem to appreciate it at the time, she did stop panting.

We have now emerged from our two day blast-furnace into something resembling a normal summer. It's 66º F (19º C) as I sit down to write this morning. But we do have some damage. Our garden, which normally feels like a cool oasis, is parched and wilted, a sort of dusty, tired green despite our repeated watering. A hydrangea that Dave moved just before the heat wave (bad timing) looks like it's been blowtorched. The hanging basket of pansies on the front porch has collapsed into a smoldering ruin.


That was my phone at 1:15 p.m. yesterday, and that's as hot as it got where we are, though apparently some areas got just above 104º F (40º C). See how the forecast shows rain on Wednesday and Friday? Well, as it stands now, we have a 50-70 percent chance of rain late this afternoon, and I am certain it won't be anywhere near as much as we need. That rain prediction on Friday has disappeared. (How did we go from an 80 percent chance to nothing? Beats me.)

We got a smattering of rain yesterday evening when the heat broke, just enough to dampen the leaves of the plants, but not enough to measure. I took more water down to the sorry street tree and was happy to see that someone else had also watered it. It's still going to take a miracle for that thing to pull through.

As planned, we went to the movies again yesterday afternoon. We saw "Elvis," which I found surprisingly good and even touching, despite the fact that it's directed by Baz Luhrmann whose flashy movies I almost never like, and the fact that I've never been an Elvis fan myself. Best of all -- it was 2 hours and 40 minutes long, which meant with trailers and advertisements we were in that air conditioned cinema for more than three hours. Heaven!

We certainly had a better day than people in some parts of London, where there were disastrous fires fueled by sun-crisped vegetation, melting roadways and heat-buckling surfaces. An article I saw online said we can expect these sorts of temperatures every three years or so. The new normal.



In the evening, as Dave and I did a final round of watering, I saw my first Jersey tiger moth of the summer, fluttering around our patio.


And like Olga, our pink dahlia wasn't put off too much by the heat. It still managed to crank out its first flower of the season.

27 comments:

  1. Lucky you...19c! It is 25.5 in here, even with all the windows and doors open. It was 30c all day yesterday so I guess it takes a while to cool down.

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  2. 19C. What a drastic change. And what a relief. Meteorology. We have 97% chance of rain that suddenly drops to 3%. As for Dog Butt with Dahlias: I feel like that butt is following me wherever I go.

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  3. The pansies might come back. We are used to summer fried hydrangeas here. They will be fine next year. One reason I am not seeing the Elvis movie is that it is so long and we don't tend to have intermissions in films anymore here. The worst heat I've suffered for years was in London in 2019 at a hotel we stayed at for one night. Our North Greenwich hotel did have room air conditioning, thank goodness.

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  4. Cool drinks, popsicles. fans and lighter meals as well as some shade will help.

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  5. Dusty dry gardens, high temperatures, it's almost like you're living in Australia.
    If it isn't too much trouble I suggest watering in the evening after the sun is no longer on the plants and again in the early morning before the sun gets onto the plants. Give the roots a chance to suck up that water before the heat gets too high.

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  6. Why can't OLga wear some little pink panties - frilly ones? Then devoted readers of "Shadows and Light" would not have to see her "butt" (i.e. arse).

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  7. Cutest Little Caboose On The World Wide Web There Brother Reed - Stay Hydrated And Keep Working That Hose

    Cheers

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  8. I can’t imagine enduring those temps without AC
    Then again, I did grow up in Virginia and Oklahoma in the bad old days before air conditioning.
    Hope the weather breaks soon

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  9. Glad to hear you're coping. The garden will probably cheer up a lot in cooler weather. I've seen parks that looked like shredded wheat turn green again in fall. So I'm hopeful.

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  10. Having cold water dumped on me when I was hot and sweaty wouldn't be much appreciated either!

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  11. Phew! I saw in online news that there were fires as a result of the heat. I, too, often wonder why the rain forecasts can be so off. But then, meteorology is not something I have ever studied.
    Have you considered getting a sprinkler that you can just move about in the garden?
    I've heard that Elvis movie is pretty good. Now watch the Tender Bar and tell us what you think.

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  12. We're in the 90s here but you guys have us beat by a mile. I feel for your garden -- I'm glad it seems to be breaking.

    When you said Mona Lisa Dog Butt I was envisioning that somehow the folds had emerged into the Mona Lisa, rather like those that find her face in a piece of toast or on a pizza or a potato. I think I like your version better! (I was wondering how that would work out...)

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  13. Too bad you could not take the girl in the fur coat with you to the movies, She is so well behaved - I am sure that no one would object.
    Wearing fur in blow torch weather, the girl is a champion!!

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  14. Three plus hours in an air-conditioned theater sounds like a perfect way to spend some time during the crazy heatwave there. Makes me wonder if Olga would have enjoyed the cooler temps and watching the Elvis movie with you. Really glad this crazy heatwave may be moving on. Love that Jersey tiger moth. You do seem such beautiful moths there, Steve.

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  15. That snap from your phone says it all. Unheard of temperatures for your part of the world. I saw a series of photos in the NY Times yesterday from England and places in Europe. I even heard that the runway melted at Luton Airport causing the airport to shut down. Hopefully, you are having more normal summer-like temps today. I hope those heat damaged plants can snap back.

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  16. It has to get hotter than that for our roads to melt and buckle. but damn, I am so tired of these high 90s and triple digits. I wish we would get a break.

    Nice to know someone else is concerned about the little tree.

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  17. Sorry to hear about all the suffering people, pets, and plants there. I do hope rain comes your way soon. We are in our summer-time evening showers period of weather, so none of the forecasts are right ...because if a shower wants to happen, it just does. A very wet running from car to restaurant last night...but by the time we finished dinner, no rain and only a few puddles.

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  18. Frog-legged dog butts are the best ones of all! I'm glad for your garden's sake that the worst of the heat appears to be over.

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  19. I love a good Olga Butt photo - thank you! Glad you survived the high temps & I hope you do get a good rain today.

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  20. Another wonderful title. What did Olga do when you went to the movie? I love the picture of her.

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  21. I'm glad the weather has cooled off. 40C is dangerously hot. Olga looks hot but relaxed 😌

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  22. What's all this fuss about climate change?
    No such thing ... roads melt, so what?
    :::shrug:::

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  23. The change in weather this morning was so welcome wasnt it?

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  24. The dog butt is hilarious.
    I read about the hot temperature in Europe. I cant imagine the heat stress there

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  25. I love the dog butt...hopefully it is not accompanied by an air of mystery.

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  26. The dog butt is very picturesque! I'm glad the furnace like heat is over...for now. We're expecting 90s next week which is unpleasant but not catastrophic.

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  27. Frances: An article I saw online said that British houses are made to conserve warmth, not release it! Your example seems to illustrate that point.

    Mitchell: I was seriously getting frustrated by the repeated promises of rain that never panned out! Now we've had a tiny, tiny bit, so that helps.

    Andrew: I remember you telling me about that 2019 trip! The pansies are annuals, so we'll just toss them and get something else.

    E: Well, fortunately the heat is past us now! But yeah, I remember those tips well.

    River: I try to water in either morning or evening. Rarely both -- and at midday only in emergencies!

    YP: She's proud of her butt! Don't butt-shame my dog!

    Padre: I agree -- Olga does have a cute dog butt. LOL

    Marty: When you're in it, you just focus on getting through!

    Boud: Our lawn is almost entirely brown, but I have no doubt it will come back with some moisture.

    Ed: I thought she'd love it, but yeah, maybe it was a little too abrupt!

    Ms Moon: We have a sprinkler but we try to water sparingly, given that water is in such high demand and supplies are lower than normal at this time of year. So we use the hose for more focus and ignore the grass entirely.

    Jeanie: Ha! My brother insisted that his dog's butt looked like Jesus, but I never blogged a photo for fear it would offend people. LOL

    Linda Sue: I'm sure she would have slept the whole time! (Probably snoring.)

    Robin: I love the tiger moths. They used to be rare in England but they're turning up more now, I assume because of climate change.

    Sharon: Yes, Luton airport closed for a while. Crazy! The infrastructure here just isn't made for this kind of heat (unlike in the American Southwest, for example).

    Ellen: I think it may have been the council doing the watering, but hey, I'll take it!

    Barbara: Our storms are similarly transient and unpredictable. I think in our case it has something to do with living on an island. Maritime weather, you know?

    Kelly: Yes! I love her "sploot" (as it's called when dogs lie like that).

    Bug: We had a bit of rain but not enough for me to call it good.

    Jenny-O: She slept on the couch. Dogs default to sleeping when it gets hot! (And most of the rest of the time, actually.)

    Pixie: It was definitely dangerous for vulnerable people in houses or flats with no a/c.

    Bob: I know! To me it seems obvious, but there are those who say this is all a natural weather cycle.

    John: Literally like a breath of fresh air!

    Roentare: Yeah, it's bad all over Europe. Housing here just isn't made for this kind of weather.

    Debby: Ha! Not THAT kind of air.

    Margaret: At least the 90s seems natural and manageable. Especially with a new heat pump!

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