Beech Tree News Network

The summers in Kentucky are much hotter than they used to be.  I’m not basing this assessment on the National Weather Service data, nor the “Old Farmers Almanac,” nor a ground hog in Pennsylvania; neither am I looking for a fight over climate change or global warming.  I’m basing my findings on the most scientific method known to man: personal experience.  I know, I have griped repeatedly in this column about the heat and insects in Garey’s home state of Alabama, but another gripe is fully warranted for a reference point, as you will see in the following paragraph.

Even if I hadn’t taken into account the swarms of insects that assailed me on my first summer trip to Alabama, the sheer heat and humidity that hit me in the face on my trip from the car to the front door was enough to make me want to turn and run.  I was sorely disappointed in the reprieve I assumed was awaiting me as I entered the house, because Garey’s parents didn’t have AC.  I remember thinking, “Why do people live here!!!”

Well, Folks, we ARE here.  Except for the fire ants and swarms of black gnats, we are having an Alabama summer.  We had one solid week of upper 90s.  That should be illegal.  We’ve had adequate to more than enough rain, and I’m grateful that we haven’t had the kind of drought conditions I’ve seen ruin Alabama gardens and crops. 

 This summer, our kitchen bar stools have been home to sweat-soaked tee shirts, hanging there to dry.  I remember those days in Alabama, picking peas till my tee shirt clung to my body.  My sister-in-law, Charlotte, wasn’t having it.  She would peel her shirt from her body and continue picking peas in her bra and short shorts.  Aggie would have a conniption, but Charlotte rarely paid Aggie any mind.  The other thing Charlotte would do was light up those small Tiparillo cigars and hold them between her teeth as she picked peas.  The smoke kept the swarms of black gnats out of her face.  Charlotte was like those animals who adapt to their environments by developing defense mechanisms.  She was ingenious.  

There are other phenomena that happen with excessive heat.  I have lost flowers this summer that I have raised all my life.  They’ve had plenty of rain, but they died from the heat.  The leaves looked like someone had taken a blow torch to them.  The flowers that lived were picked apart by songbirds.  I don’t mean the birds ate the seeds, rather they pulled the petals off the flowers.  I saw it happen with my own eyes.  The sunflowers that feed my Gold Finches in the fall after the seeds mature won’t get that chance this year.  The birds are eating the immature seeds.  Maybe this behavior happens on a seasonal basis in other parts of the nation, but I’ve never seen it in my own back yard.  

Taking all of this into consideration, I finally have my answer to, “Why do people live here?”  This is my home.  I will learn to adapt, just like the people who live in Alabama.  I’m ordering my Tiparillos now.