Baked Texan

Have you had enough summer yet?

I'm a Summer Woman. Even so, this one has been especially brutal here in San Antonio.

In July alone, we had something like fifteen days with temperatures exceeding 100F, with the rest registering not too far beneath that bar. We broke at least one high-heat record. Water restrictions. Dust from the Sahara blown across the Atlantic to clog up our air. An abundance of rattlesnakes and coral snakes. But otherwise, beautiful sunshine!



August is often hotter than July, which makes me sweat just thinking about it. I hope this year will be the other way around. But looking around... what's a little heat?

In other places, it's been fire or rain. Followed by more fire and flooding. Or red tide. Really bad red tide. Count yourself lucky if you've never experienced any of these things. I hope none of you have been affected too badly by this year's crop of weather maladies.

I think summers when I was a kid weren't this hot or this extreme, but I didn't do the math on that so my memory may be incorrect.

In the spring, I planted pots of begonias and impatiens, which grew extremely
leggy and refused to flower once the heat set in. I'm hoping to keep them alive until it cools off and hope they bloom again.


The gardener half of our family is, of course, the winner when it comes to living things that grow in the dirt. Below are some of his beauties:






It's a good thing I didn't have many outdoor plans this summer. Most of my time was spent hanging with Gracie. We toasted the launch of Bluebonnet Ballerina, gave away copies of Jalapeno Cupcake Wench, met some fantastic book bloggers and a lot of awesome readers on a book blog tour, and ended by giving away an Amazon gift card that made one new reader really happy.

Thank you to everyone who participated in the tour. I had a great time chatting with you and answering your questions.

All in all, not a bad way to spend a really hot July.

Now I'm tired! I'm going to rest up for a little bit, maybe take some days off, before figuring out what comes next. Stay tuned 💙

What have you done this summer?

I'll be back here on Wednesday, September 3.


Comments

We had some really hot days in July, but not to the tune of a hundred degrees. Lots of rain though. My grass loves heat and rain so there are days when I can literally hear it growing.
Glad the launch of your latest was a success.
L. Diane Wolfe said…
My flowers were leggy like yours. Then it got a little cooler and rained like crazy, and they exploded. Just keep yours alive a little longer.
Murees Dupè said…
We have water restrictions here in Cape Town too. It gets really hot here too, so I sympathize😋. Yeah, I'm not a fan of snakes. I'll probably run around screaming. The plants are gorgeous.
We are in winter here which I MUCH prefer to the sweaty season. Sadly our water restrictions have been made permanent. And fires will tear through in summer.
Enjoy your break.
Carol Kilgore said…
Alex - Our grass is like yours :)

Diane - If I can keep them alive, I can hope.

Murees - Water restrictions are no fun. I'm the same as you about snakes.

EC - I'm going to do a lot of reading. At least that's the plan.
Jan Christensen said…
I'm so glad the tour went well for you and hope you can now get a good rest. It's been in the 90s here in Corpus Christi, and I see there's been no red tide so far in the area this year in the Gulf. I mostly stay inside and freeze because of the air conditioning. I actually go outside and sit for a while to warm up! But that's just me. Can't stand the cold. Hope the rest of your summer is less hectic and less hot.
Unknown said…
I just returned from San Antonio in July. My middle son graduated from Air Force Basic. The heat was oppressive, especially since I'm accustomed to the more moderate conditions in the mountain state. We had to drive around with pot holders on, lol. You must have a serious green thumb to grow those beautiful flowers in such extreme conditions. They're gorgeous. RE: the red tide... I observed one years ago. It was something out of an apocalypse. Dead fish floated atop the water & hundreds more lined the shoreline. And the stench!!! It was
a weird experience. I hate that it's an ongoing thing.

Hope the weather cools down for you soon.
Not sure if the summer's are getting hotter as we age or if we just feel the heat more as we get older, the winter's also are getting colder as I get older
Carol Kilgore said…
Jan - Hope Red Tide passes you by this year. I'm catching up this week. So far so good :)

Andrea - Too bad he had to graduate during summer. The other times of the year are wonderful here. Husband is the one with the amazing green thumb :) So true about the stench of Red Tide. It's dangerous for humans and animals. We're in the mid-90s this week. Yay!

Jo-Anne - I think it's some of both. So that probably makes it worse on the 'how it feels' side.
Kelly Steel said…
We are going through draught at the moment so everything is drying out.
Carol Kilgore said…
Kelly - Drought is no fun. I love rain and we never get enough. But we aren't always in a drought situation.
It's winter here in Brisbane and my herbs don't like the cold. But it's not very cold really. I hope your plants effected by the heat recover.
DMS said…
It has been very hot here for the past month. Lots of days that have been filled with far more humidity than usual. Also- lots of afternoon storms and even some tornadoes- which used to be unusual in Connecticut. But, we have had almost 10 in the past 2 months. Weather patterns seem to be changing for sure.

I hope the temperatures cool off a bit and the fires get put out. :)
~Jess
Carol Kilgore said…
Lynda - Your climate and your herbs sound much like ours. Rosemary thrives here. And mint. If we're lucky, we can keep some of the others alive, but not most.

Jess - I've been hearing about y'all's crazy weather. Tornados are so scary. I hope the same about temps and fires.
I love the colorful flowers/plants, Carol!
Global warming is really on the rampage, hey? Those are blazing temperatures...
The heat has been brutal this year. Too many high temperature records have been set, and even in parts of the country that are usually temperate, so the poor folks don't even have air conditioning. Same thing in Europe. Uh, yeah... I think I'm ready for autumn, like lots of other people.

Carol Kilgore said…
Michelle - I'll tell my husband! Much prettier than my brown sticks :)

Susan - I know. I've been reading about the heat everywhere. I do feel sorry for those who don't have air conditioning. They'll rethink if this becomes a regular happening. I hope it doesn't. A little crisp morning air sounds really good right now :)
Mark said…
I've been there in summer, and that river heat is no joke:) I need a cool ocean nearby to retreat to when things get hot:)
Carol Kilgore said…
Mark - When they say Texas Tough or Tough as Texas, they mean it :)
Christine Rains said…
Our July has been hot and dry. There are cracks in our yard I can't see the bottoms of! Yes, that does sound like a lovely way to spend a hot month. I hope to do spend the rest of August in the cool air with my computer. :) Even with the heat, I had a terrific July with great family times.
Carol Kilgore said…
Christine - Family times are the best! Glad you had a great summer :)
Jennifer Shirk said…
Summer has been hot here too--but not THAT hot!
But after the cold/rainy spring we had, I'm not complaining. :-)

I've been having an awesome summer, although I can already feel the shift in the air with college kids going back to school in our town. Feeling like September already.
Carol Kilgore said…
Jennifer - I'm glad you've had a more normal summer. Our kids go back to school on Monday, 8-20 and colleges here start 8-27. Not feeling like September at all here. Was 100 again today.

.