1st Day of Summer

1st Day of Summer

Today is officially the 1st day of summer and it is hotter than a blister here. We have been picking squash and throwing them in whatever we cook for about a week. Yesterday was the 1st day we had enough to make squash & onions. Yesterday we also got out 1st fig. I don’t think it ripened by itself. A bird had made a hole in it. We don’t mind eating after a bird. Maybe the figs will start ripening now. The tree is loaded.

The seasons are based on the position of the earth related to the sun. The solstices and equinoxes do not seem nearly as relevant, except for day length anymore. It has felt like summer here for almost 2 months. Spring started in late winter. Global warming and climate change are accelerating rapidly. 9 out of the last 10 years have seen record breaking temperatures. Droughts, floods and unpleasant acts of nature are on the rise. Human habitation in places where it did not happen before, lead to more serious disasters.

Speaking of disasters… Last year we got our 1st tomato on the 3rd of July. My friends have loads of tomatoes on their vines. The deer pruned my vines so heavily that we are just now getting the 1st blossoms. There were blossoms there before the deer ate them. Pepper spray and wire fence seem to have abated the problem. I sure hope someone will give me some early tomatoes.

David Segrest is an International REALTOR in Charlotte, NC. His email is david@segrestrealty.com , His webpage is http://www.segrestrealty.com , and his international real estate blog is http://dointernationalrealestate.blogspot.com/.