Here lately I’ve been taking my morning coffee out to the back porch of the new house most mornings. I noticed something this morning that had been kind of bothering me even as it hadn’t processed yet…The birds are not singing the sun up these days. Don’t get me wrong, you can hear some birds but it’s really quiet out these mornings. I imagine it’s as much a response to the heat and the drought as anything else because I don’t remember past years being this quiet.
I saw this report yesterday:
Texas’ Texas-sized drought and heat wave is setting new records, as August temperatures regularly topping 100° continue to impact most of the state. The high temperature hit 102° at the Houston Intercontinental Airport yesterday, a record for the date, and the 16th consecutive day of 100°+ heat. The 16-day streak is a new record. The previous record was 14 straight days, ending on July 19, 1980.
Let me tell you it feels hot…Even sitting out with one cup of morning coffee leaves you damp when you are done…Two cups and you are dripping. It almost is enough to make a coffee lover switch to the South’s favorite refreshment Sweet Iced Tea. It wasn’t all that many years ago that we always had a pitcher of tea on the counter ready to refill a glass. I guess I need to revisit the decision that put a stop to that practice…Especially if these long hot summers we have been having are here to stay a while.
I also noticed that just to get back to a equilibrium on soil moisture, most of Texas needs more than 16″ of rain to fall…Hopefully, not all at once. It is so dry around here the the honeybees are lining up at the water pans I keep filled for pets and birds. All day long there will be upwards of 40-50 bees around the rim of the pan sipping water. Even the hummingbirds are hitting the feeders more often than in the past…
Looking at the quote above brings back some not so fond memories. I spent that old record period stripping and sanding the exterior of our first house and then repainting it. Two weeks of hell…Wearing almost no clothing and a respirator to make sure I wasn’t breathing in any lead based paint. Then it was a gallon bucket and a 6″ brush for another week or two to finish the job. You really have to wonder about Texans and there staying power in our summer heat.
Time to close this as I see the insulation crew is here to finish blowing in the almost six inches of wall insulation I can look forward to enjoying next summer…
I bet the dry hot weather could effect the birds-it’s effecting the people!
I’ve lived in South Texas where it’s always dry and hot and what we are seeing here around Houston is just like what I would see down there…I know it’s affecting the birds and the insects.