Farewell to August -- and good riddance!

I've watered
and staked
and pruned
and pulled
and mulched

and still...
I can't stop
the relentless spread
of August

------

I recently told a friend, "I don't know what made me think I could live in Indiana." It's not that the state doesn't have its charms. Indianapolis has theater, big and small: the Indiana Repertory Theater, The Phoenix, and Theater on the Square (or TOTS, as it's affectionately known). The Dance Kaleidoscope is our modern dance troupe, and they're wonderful. Broad Ripple boasts some of the best micro-breweries in the area, including the Broad Ripple Brewpub and Brugge Brasserie (which also serves A!-MAY!-ZING! crepes).

But the heat and humidity... Ugh!

We had weeks upon weeks of temperatures in the 90s, at least three weeks of which were completely without rain. So, all of the moisture was hanging in the air we were trying to breathe while all my landscaping drooped from drought. Ironic...

Luckily, September has come to our rescue -- at least momentarily. This weekend's temperatures are finally in a comfortable zone, and I'm sleeping with my windows open and the AC off.

Tomorrow, I'll take my kayak out to one of our city parks, Eagle Creek, and paddle around the reservoir. Crested cormorants. Egrets. Blue heron. American coots. The occasional merganser. Banded kingfishers. And, apparently, a nesting pair of bald eagles.

September: the only way to halt the relentless spread of August.