Reprieve, Sort of...

Baby watermelons the size of golf balls.

Day 3: As I laid in bed waiting for the alarm to sound I thought about the day ahead. I would head out immediately to do some more watering, trying to help things survive the next few 100-degree days. I wanted to just stay in bed. How long will this heat last? It's only the end of June. What will July and August, usually our hottest months, be like? I felt discouraged.

I took my bowl of breakfast fruit out to the garden (at 6:30 a.m.) so I could have breakfast while I started watering. It was a lovely, cool 70 degrees, or lower. The morning warmed slowly. By noon, it had barely breached the 90-degree mark. No 100 degrees today. Just 93 at its height. Yes, I know, that's still hot. But it is tolerably hot (to me) and not as stressful to the plants as 100.

As if the world were offering extra encouragement, I found tiny little melons on my watermelon vines (at top) and this lovely bunch of zinnias in the cutting garden.

Low 90s instead of low 100s... I am grateful for whatever relief comes my way.