Forgotten Blogs and Weather Posts.

It's been 2 years since the last post.. mostly because I forgot this blog even existed. Only because of a reminder notice asking me if I still want notifications about comments am I even here.

But since I am, lets catch up on things. 2017 was ages ago... but I recall we had an early fall as far as leaves go, mostly because of yet another dry summer that caused the stressed trees to start dropping leaves early, but for some reason the oaks seemed to keep their leaves forever.... extending fall clean up quite a bit. Although it did give us extended time to mulch the leaves as they came down, so there were significantly smaller piles to pick up.
Due to the droughts though, many of the regrown elm trees are now dying... trees that might be 25 years old are just dropping all their leaves and turning stone cold dead. Other trees seem to also be taking a hit from the lack of water, though there seems to be enough to keep the crab grass happy this year.

Last year we had an uptick of gypsy moths, due also to the lack of rain (they are kept in check by a fungus that needs spring rains to be effective). We did not have noticeable damage, but some areas of MA really took a hit... It was predicted to be another bad year this year, with a spring that started out pretty dry but then turned to two months of rain in April and May? Then it dried out again and while we have had bouts of heavy rains and the flowers have really seemed to last a long time this year, it's now getting rather dry again. Two digs tomorrow will tell us how much moisture is or isnt in the ground. I'm thinking it's going to be pretty dry.

Also of note is the incredible heat we've had this year, yet again breaking records. July and August have been just oppressive with weeks at a time of record heat. Its the payback for the beautiful weather we had in June I guess. But as we head into September having had a week of 95+ degree weather with heat indexes in the triple digits, and the first week looking the same, it's kind of depressing.

Also of note were last year's hurricanes that hit Huston, Florida and Puerto Rico and the Virgin Island chains... and this year we have fires burning most of the west sending smoke across the country and an unusual Pacific hurricane that sent feet of rain into Hawaii. This year seems quiet in the Atlantic... but it's still early.

I noticed the poison ivy vines are starting to drop leaves.. not turn, but drop.. Early sign of the stress or heat? Not sure.

Well, now that I've found this again, I'll have to try to figure out what it's attached to... I'm not sure anyone even sees this or can see it.