We knew it without even looking at the local numbers as compiled by air quality monitors. We are in the "unhealthy for all" category. It's so hazy outside that I feel like I just stepped back a few decades to a summer in New York City.
A beautiful, sunny day, not to be enjoyed outdoors.
I have no idea when the Canadian forest fires will let up and stop sending smoke our way. Maybe tomorrow, maybe in a month. For now, we live with hazy skies and polluted air.
I hesitate with lily picking -- a whole hour, outside? -- but only for a minute. It is the last day of July and July belongs to my flower fields. I missed only one time of lily pruning -- the day I went to Chicago. I don't want to end the lily season with a messy garden. I put on my KN95 and go outside. Bugs, smoky air, wet foliage. Am I having fun yet??
Well, you know the saying. all good things come with a price tag. One not measured in dollars or Euros.
601 snipped lilies today. So ends July, the month that belongs to lilies.
(can you find the frog?)
Breakfast, inside. That goes without saying.
Everything is inside.
There is one outing for us today: the local market. Ed and I both wear masks. The air is that bad, even as the temps are lovely and the sunshine -- a welcome change from yesterday's rains.
I think back to winter days: I worry then that my physical activity slows down too much when it's bitter cold outside. A few walks during the week hardly count for me as exertion. But I tell myself -- never mind, I'll make up for it in warmer weather. And I do -- in spring I work steadily and heavily in the fields. I rediscover my bike. Ed and I check out the awakening world of prairie and woodland in our local park. And then comes summer. Sorry, but lily snipping doesn't cut it. It takes time and keeps me off the couch. What a low bar that is! So I try to fit in bike riding, as does Ed. When the air quality allows for it. And when it doesn't? Here we are, in the farmhouse living room, doing our "living," eyes glued to reading material.
[Hey! -- cries the flip side of me -- I do balancing exercises when I wait for my milk to heat up for my coffee! The goal is 60 seconds on each foot, eyes closed. And there's more -- I clean, wipe, cook, water, feed others. Mightn't that count? You're right, it doesn't. Thank goodness for travel. I still push myself each day on the road.]
There's no such thing as a perfect gardening month of course. But if a lily count is an indication of anything, then surely this year has been just outstanding. So much so that, given the work involved, I'm not totally sad to be moving into August.
with love...
