Surviving summer

Next week in this space, I’ll give everyone an update on an ongoing freedom of information fight with the Eureka Springs city attorney. It’s a doozy.

For now, though, let’s take a break from all that and talk about this weather.

We’re getting a little bit of relief now, if you can really call three straight days with forecast highs of 94 degrees “relief.” As I write this on Friday, Aug. 5, that’s the outlook for the weekend.

But it beats 105, I suppose, and at least we’ve finally gotten some rain. And a “cool front” is coming with highs forecast at “only” 87 this Tuesday and Wednesday and 89 on Thursday. Then we’re back up over 90 again.

But, it could always be worse. Having moved here eight years ago from central Arkansas, I can tell you there is a noticeable difference in humidity here and that does help make the heat a little more tolerable. And it’s been downright nice at times in the morning. I tend to be an early riser and there have been a few times lately where I’ve been able to enjoy my first cup of coffee on the back deck with temperatures below 70.

I wasn’t altogether disappointed when the grass and weeds in my yard turned crispy brown, although I know the drought caused problems for many of our neighbors here in Carroll County. Because I’m pretty much equal parts busy and lazy, I pay to have my yard mowed. Last summer I tried getting by with every other week, and that didn’t work out well. So this spring, we switched to every week. The yard looked great, but that was a pretty substantial expense.

So, as I said, I wasn’t exactly enraged when my yard appeared to have been burned beyond any hope of a comeback this year. I was saving money! And I needed that extra cash, especially when my electric bill jumped up nearly 50 percent. Add to that the fact that our walnut tree dropped a fairly large limb across our back fence, creating another expense, and I wasn’t exactly coming out ahead.

Then, the rains came. And within just a couple of days, my front yard was green and growing again. So, it was time to break out another $50 bill for the mowers.

But maybe the yard was trying to tell me something. I had given it up for dead, thinking there was no way it could bounce back. The summer had just been too hard on it. But all it really needed was a little bit of encouragement, a nice cool drink, and it was right back to 100 percent.

It’s still too hot. It’s still too dry. But we’ll get through it, just like my yard.

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Scott Loftis is managing editor for Carroll County Newspapers. His email address is SLoftis@cherryroad.com.