By Bob McNitt

Unless you have some scorpion blood flowing through your veins, the past few Sahara-like midday temperatures made being outdoors, whether working or playing, less than enjoyable. Even the most diehard outdoor enthusiasts opted, if possible, to spend most of those days either indoors, near a fan or A/C, or seeking shade. Water sports may have been okay, but only if you were actually in the water, not atop it. At the risk of being flogged with beach towels, Iím admitting that summer is not my favorite season. And especially so when itís like it has been the past few days ñ scorching hot.

The positive side of this – if you look hard enough – is the heat, on the heels of all the rain, has caused flora to flourish. If you donít have a garden or lawn to keep weeded or mowed, you may not have noticed just how lush and rapidly growing all the vegetation is. Old-timers use to say, during periods like this, they “could hear the corn grow.” Well, I can almost hear the lawn grass growing and could easily mow it about every couple of days. Sadly, many valley basin farmers had their corn crops severely damaged by the recent flood.