In our smoky high summer
Adapted from Robert Whitcomb’s “Digital Diary,’’ in GoLocal24.com
Tomatoes, tomatoes – multi-colored! Heirloom! New England has a shorter vegetable-growing season than much of the country (though it’s getting longer), but those plants we do grow are particularly delicious, and many of them are ready to eat now. Next stop: sweet corn.
Some people may see a certain beauty in air pollution: When it hasn’t been gray or various shades of blue this summer, the New England sky has somertimes been tinted a golden cast by smoke (which you could taste) from wildfires in Minnesota and Ontario. While it lowered temperatures from what had been predicted, it was quite creepy. As man-made global warming continues, we can expect much more of this stuff. Forests dry more quickly in the heat.
So ozone pollution, the main ingredient in smog, will increase. It’s very bad for your lungs. All this as the regime tries to gut the EPA in association with campaign donations from certain industries.
Hydrangeas, with their huge flower heads, seem exuberant emblems of New England in the summer, particularly along the coast. Looking at their vibrant blues, purples and pinks can raise our spirits, even on the hottest, most humid days.
Hydrangeas in bloom on Cape Cod.