Summer goes on

All weekend the starlings were doing that noisy autumn flocking thing in the neighborhood trees. They're either fooled or know something we don't. Anyway, the summer that never got started is here at last. Record heat predicted for next week, just in time for back to school. Poor teachers.

The Seattle lawns (if you can still call them that) are crispy and crunchy underfoot. John "mowed" yesterday sending up a cloud of dust, but at least it's a neat-looking brown. There's a wildfire far off to the west on the Olympic Peninsula. Our peek view of the mountains is gone, but we could still see the smoke rising above the mega-house that was built across the street this summer. It's hard to remember the last hot, dry Labor Day weekend in Seattle.

On Saturday we had a drive-by visit from our favorite little family and enjoyed a salad/watermelon lunch in the garden. Short but sweet, like this summer that will soon end.

A pixie in the dahlias...

And the last ice cream of summer is the best...