Sunday, September 12, 2010

The Kadsura vine outside the back window seems to be enjoying the rain. We got ~.75" last night and today

 We actually did need the rain.The cool high pressure that broke summers back brought wonderful dry air in from the west. Of course that creates a tremendous imbalance in the osmotic pressure inside the soft tissues of plants and the air. Transpiration goes through the roof and leaves droop. My poor bananas take it particularly to heart. I watered them heavily yesterday morning and by afternoon they looked miserable. There was water in the ground but they just aren't adapted to low humidity. So even though plans to attend the Renaissance Festival were canceled, it was good to see the rain.

This summer, like the year overall, has been extreme. Though we missed setting the record for the most 90F degree days in a summer (that would be 1980) by 5?, 2010 is far and away the hottest summer on record. A bar graph of the top ten shows little deviation among 2-10 (<.5 degree). 2010 blows them away averaging a degree and a half higher. It was a difficult summer to endure, no doubt made more so by the fact that I'm 39 years older than I was in 1980. Well, it's over now

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