The sun has set, and the temperature is 80 degrees. I believe it rose to 96 today, making our high here in central New York greater than that in southern Florida. Ugh. Supposedly we will get a break tomorrow afternoon when storms come through.

I have been keeping a watchful eye on the plants we have outside. It seems I have dumped buckets full of water each night of this hot, dry spell. An inch of water left at the base of the pot is soon gone, and I replenish it as soon as I can.

The birds and the squirrels seem unaffected by the heat. It’s business as usual for them, although I notice that more birds are perching at the birdbath for a drink. I’m sure many other sources of water have dried up this past week.