Browned

It's been a strange year weather-wise.  It seems as if our weather's been weeks ahead of the calendar since the winter.  We had hardly any snow or sub-zero temperatures in January or February. We experienced 80-degree days in March.  We endured unseasonably cold weather in May. And in June, there was hardly a drop of rain, causing the grass to slowly become brown and sad-looking and crinkly under foot.  As Mother Nature has parched our area, Larry and I have taken to the watering can, giving plants and shrubs around our condo regular cool drinks.  Usually, we hardly have to water at all in early summer because Mother Nature seems to perfectly time the rain.  But not so this year. Now that mid-July is here, it makes me wonder what we will experience by autumn.  Some of our trees and shrubs are so stressed that they're already changing color or losing some leaves. This drought is have worrisome and even catastrophic effects on our farms.  Water and locally grown food are truly precious commodities, and in a drought, they become even more apparent and important.  Nature continues to astound me with its power, its ever-changing beauty and its mysteries.  I remind myself in this browned state that there is much to enjoy every day in nature, no matter the season, no matter the weather, no matter the color of our summer - green or brown.