Withering heat, neglect, preparing to travel

Yesterday evening it was 102®F outside without a breeze of any sort. It was most unpleasant. I did not stay out in it very long but I have been trying to get enough water to the young trees I recently planted to try and get them through the heat. If they survive the time we will be away next week they should make it for the long haul, but it is looking touch and go for some.

I am hesitant to water the garden area with the sprinkler we have set up for that purpose because nothing is growing. All the plants have burned up at this point – even the okra. It is not a big garden but the amount of water I need to get it all soaked to the point of point any good is greater than if I just carry water to specific trees and plants I need to get that water to.

I was disappointed to see the strawberries had died out. I was really hoping we would be able to keep them for a couple years. My far-fetched hope is that they are dormant and will recover once the temperatures drop to a less life-threatening level, but that may be a vain hope. On those, I will try again next year.

This year was a kind of experiment to see where we need to put the garden and how well it would produce in the more temperate environment of the Chico property. Obviously, we will have to make some adjustments but overall we had a very successful garden – until we left it for a long stay in Alaska and everything suffered a horrible death in our absence.

I have told Mama we need to make a careful choice in the future; either we will not plant a garden or we will not travel during the time we need to be tending to that garden. Of course the obvious caveat is where Grandma and Grandpa reside. Grandpa would have tended the garden in our absence but he was almost as far from it as Mama and I were through this summer. It is certainly a pitiful sight now.

Victoria is off today so she is concentrating on cleaning, laundering and packing. I started packing last night after I got moderately cleaned up. I will not have too much trouble fitting what I need into one suitcase. I was planning to bring some of my shirts on hangers but once I saw the pile of hang-up clothing Mama has set aside for us to bring I abandoned that idea and packed them into the suitcase. I do not know exactly what Victoria is bringing that will remain on hangers but it will be a challenge to find room in the car for what I have already been given.

Victoria and I are trying to find a good time to get her car washed up. The oak trees lining the driveway, under which we normally park to be in the shade, put off some kind of mist of sticky sap which covers the cars in a few days’ time. It is not hard to remove but it takes time to get the vehicles to the carwash to remove the film and dirt. And we would rather pack and travel in a fairly clean vehicle. We should be ready in plenty of time.

I am looking forward to the break from work.