Two months of brutally high temperatures saw two weeks straight of 95+ weather carrying heat at one point. Rain was scarce and did little but make the humidity worse. The gnats this year are swarms of tiny flies that arrive two feet after you step into the sauna that was once your yard.

It’s the 7^th of August today, and while it’s not cool in any sense of the word, the temperatures are only in the low to mid 90s. The humidity hasn’t picked up until after dawn for a few days now.

Don’t get me wrong here. Mid August and the first part of September can be horrible in their own right. But Summer begins in Mid May in South Georgia. Ticks are a daily hazard a long time before Spring ends.

At the beginning of June, I redid my well house. The gaps between the boards were growing, the roof was rotted, and it was time. We had a cold spell last year that saw a few days of cold in the upper teens, but I didn’t lose any pipes. I ran a heater in the pump house and couldn’t get the temps up above 40. Now, because the insulation is so good, the water in the tap is warm when it first arrives.

And here’s the thing. In 2023, we had a foot of rain to fall in six hours. We had snow, six inches that stayed for four days, back in January 2024. At sixty-five, I’ve seen snow about a half dozen times in my life. Snow that hung around long enough to like it, about three times. But the Blizzard of ’24 (yes I am kidding,) with that much snow hanging around like it did was far out of the ordinary. Severe weather events are becoming more ordinary, and they’re severity is getting worse.

Last year Hurricane Helene hit inland Georgia with high CAT Three winds of 127 miles per hour almost one hundred miles inland. She then went to North Carolina and hit so hard rivers changed their course due to the flooding.

I’m an outside type of guy. Years ago, even during hurricanes and high water, things evened out. Right now, in the back of my property, it’s overgrown and littered with dead trees. The back part of my yard is head high with weeds. I can’t keep up with the damage or the growth of vegetation anymore. Yeah, I am older. But even working on it three or four times a week, I’m losing the battle. All the dead trees haven’t fallen yet. All the wet spots are still greener than ever, and dead trees have flooded the area with sunlight now. It’s also hotter because of the lack of shade.

My home environment is changing.

I’m a bad hurricane year away from the search for a more sane part of the world to live in.

Take Care,

Mike

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