Here we go. Summer. The morning air is hot and heavy. With no rain, it will keep building like this, until one morning it will feel like I’m living in an oven. The sun will dry the earth, the earth will store the heat, and on it will go as every bit of water is born away. Normally, the cycle starts much earlier, but this year, in the year of the wet July, it is starting later. At least no 100-degree days are in the forecast.

I noticed as I fed the cats this morning, that the nighttime predators came to visit the peaches. Most likely squirrels, but I saw a family of racoons on the film night before last, a mother and four kits, so they may be coming to feast as well. I think I’ll move a camera tonight to see what I can see. No mind. The tree is still full of peaches and with the pickers coming tomorrow, we’ll still be able to fill jelly jars with jam and whole peaches. Of course, I may also decide to sit up tonight and guard the perimeter.

That last bit was a joke. I’m not sitting up all night to guard peaches. That would be silly and something a crotchety old man might do. I might be old, but I feel certain I’m a long way from crotchety and fighting off squirrels is pretty much a losing battle. My best bet would be a yard dog. Now that’s something to consider. It might be fun having an outside dog to go with my outside cats. But then I have to consider the foxes, I like them, and the skunks, and dogs are notoriously stupid when it comes to skunks. And who has the energy for that? Not me. Oh well, it’s easier to share the peaches.