I moved from a coastal area inland to an area with a more definitive four seasons some years back. It is nice to have four distinct seasons (five if you count fire season which is NOT nice). As much as I love the onset of each season, they do start to wear thin towards the end. 

I mean snow is great fun for the first couple of weeks, but then it’s just a chore shoveling. As ismowing. I look forward to the first grass mowing like a kid in a candy store but believe me, after a few weeks I’m over it. 

Too Hot to Mow

I am even more done with mowing by midsummer. By that time, the pleasant warm temperatures have ramped up to something one might find in Purgatory. In the last few years temperatures regularly exceed the 100 degrees F. (38 C.) mark for extended stretches; too hot for this gardener. 

These high temperatures unfortunately coincide with our fifth season; wildfire season. Wildfire season is no joke. Even if you are nowhere near a wildfire it, or more likely they, will affect you. The air quality rivals that of the most polluted cities on earth and even if the heat doesn’t keep you inside, the toxic brown air will. 

Back to the heat though. I know some of you out there are saying “but what about the humidity?”  In this I can say we are lucky. We rarely get humid days. The heat is of the dry variety often with hot, brisk wind… not good for fire season. 

Lest I sound like I’m complaining this hot, fiery season is usually over in four to six weeks leading into cooler evenings and comfortably warm daytime temps. We call that fall, and what a glorious time to be in the garden.