August has been a busy month for sky viewing with both a solar and a lunar eclipse. There was also the alignment of seven planets earlier in the month and big bright viewings of Venus and Mars. The clouds have also been spectacular. We have been on a prolonged humid heat wave due to the tropical storms off the Pacific and particularly Mexico. This picture was taken this week on a day where the mountains were getting rain from this storm front. On the coast, we just got the heat. Its been pretty unbearable for most of us here in California. The day I took this picture, I drove to my favorite beach to cool off. The water is so warm, you just want to stay in, but the currents have been really strong. A series of small waves break with strong undertow followed by several really large waves breaking in odd crisscross patterns.
The air is heavy and suffocating. Even my cats come inside and collapse to the floor, too hot and tired to even eat. A lot of us in coastal California don’t have air conditioning. We rarely needed it. Most of us live with ceiling fans and do fine, but not this year. A friend who lives in the desert once told me that you just have to surrender to the heat. Lay low, so to speak. The night of the lunar eclipse was especially hot. We had mostly cloudy skies all day as the latest tropical storm front moved through; this one even bringing a few sprinkles to the coast. But luckily around 8:45, I could see a portion of the blood red moon through the clouds. My friend’s daughter, Della, got a few great shots of this from where she lives.
This has also been the season of the ants. Little black ants that bite are prevalent. If a piece of fruit drops on the ground, the ants are on it in a minute. Not just a few, I mean covered in little black ants. Perhaps it is the humidity as well. I have been leaving little bowls of water around the yard for bees and butterflies. The birds have gone quiet. I think they are hoping this heat breaks soon too. Meanwhile, the coyotes are ranging everywhere like bad juvenile delinquents. You can hear them howling in the middle of the night or early morning, and you just hope everyone’s kitties and small dogs are inside. We have other nighttime visitors but I haven’t captured them on camera yet. You can see the half eaten avocados and oranges in the morning. The usual suspects are raccoons and opossums, along with the very hungry squirrel that lives nearby.
This heatwave is suppose to break next week. That is one event I am looking forward to.
Reflections Outside My Window 