Corn sweat and thunder

 

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image--Lars Ploughmann  / Wikimedia Commons

 

What is corn sweat? Corn sweat is another name for transpiration--the evaporation of moisture from growing corn plants. In fact, all growing plants do this, but corn is especially good at it. 

 

According to meteorologists,  corn fields can release 3000-4000 gallons of water per acre per day.

 Iowa,  Illinois, and Indiana are the big corn growing states---fields of dreams, heat and humidity, and summer storms. 

 

Tuesday, August 27, the Chicago area experienced the hottest day of the year, and the highest humidity of the year.  O'Hare Airport reported a high temperature of 99 degrees, and a real feel temperature (heat and humidity) of 110!

 

The sky got dark with  menacing storm clouds. There was thunder and lightning--bolts struck the Hancock and the Sears Tower. The sky lit up with lightning from distant storms across the Lake. And the rain was intense.  

A real summer storm for the ending days of August! 

 

 

 

 

 

A Lazy Day in August

cool breeze
picked fresh from the vine
ripe tomatoes

ripening tomatoes

 

There are days in August, ripe as tomatoes, peppers and zucchini.  The weather is just about perfect---sun and 70's and almost no humidity.  

The gardens are what they are,  browning grass and maybe a little weedy and overgrown.  The major yard work projects can wait until the cooler days of fall.  

Time for opening windows, hanging laundry in the breeze. 

Time for hoodies in the evening,  or walking in the mornings.

Time for  sitting back, watching the Perseid meteors that will peak on August 11.  You can find out more about the Perseids from EarthSky here.

 Enjoy  those last-minute summer things.  dog-day cicadas, the last of the day lilies.  bare feet on warm wood floors. 

In a couple of weeks schools will start again. The Bud Biliken Parade  held on August 10 this year is a back-to-school tradition in Chicago.

And the Democratic Convention will be in Chicago from August 19-22!  

 

The Full Moon of July

The full moon of July  21 is also called the buck moon. The name comes  from the Algonquin people----this is high summer, when the buck deer are showing off their new antlers. 

It is a time of ripening and roundness---tomatoes, peaches, plums.  There are days so perfect--- blue sky,  sun and 78 degrees, and a cool breeze off the lake.  The kind of weather we dream about all winter. 

This full moon is also known as the Thunder moon, a time of summer storms, lightning and thunder!

July has brought heat and humidity---and very severe storms.   Last  Sunday and Monday nights had powerful straight line winds  and  tornadoes!   The NWS is still investigating the damages, but as of Friday, July 19, they reported  24 confirmed tornadoes on the night of July 15.  This is  a new record for tornadoes in Chicago area on a single day or from a single event.  

 July 20th has been designated as International Moon Day--A very special day.  On this day in 1969, for the first time in history, a human being set foot on the surface of the moon.  Maybe you remember that day, 55 years ago.  What an exciting time that was, and still is.

Maybe the future the moon landing promised is not here, yet.  But today,  people have more computing power in their phones than the first moon mission had.

Maybe someday, we will  be One Earth,  One People,  on that Pale Blue Dot.  Maybe someday we will travel to the stars.  But first, we have work to do. Defend freedom and. democracy  Protect the earth, our home. And we can still  look to the sky and the stars, and wonder at the moon. 

Tanabata, the Star Festival

 

According to folklore, on the 7th day of the 7th month, two stars cross the river of the Milky Way  to meet again after a year apart. They are the stars Altair and Vega, part of the Summer Triangle,  along with the star Deneb.

You can read more about the Summer Triangle here.  

It  is a story about two married lovers--Orihime and Hikoboshi, the Weaver and the Cowherd.  

You can read their story, here.

Their meeting is celebrated throughout  China and Japan. The actual date may vary, but it usually begins on the 7th day of the 7th month according to the Gregorian calendar. Tanabata is a summer festival of magic and romance and ripening rice fields---an evening of lanterns, beautiful colors, dances and fireflies! 

In case of rain,  and the lovers cannot meet, their reunion is postponed for another year. 

Hope for clear skies tonight! 

The First Full Moon of Summer

 

 

Astronomical summer begins with the June solstice on June 20.   Thanks to our tilted planet,  the sun appears to reach the Tropic of Cancer, its most northern latitude on Earth.  

These are the longest days--over 15 hours of daylight. In Chicago, sunrises at 5:15 am, sunsets at 8:29 pm.

And tonight is a full moon--the first full moon of summer. It's called the strawberry moon,  from native American tribes that named it for  the ripe strawberries in June.

It is also called the honey moon--from honey people use to make mead, which was often served at  June weddings.

Whatever you call it,  the moon tonight  will be beautiful.  Moonrise is at 8:51 pm in Chicago. Look for it in the southeast. 

As the poet Issa wrote--

"It's like nothing they compare it to--the summer moon"

A Sunday in June

 

 

Now comes June and  perfect summer days. Rain overnight, and today, blue sky, and fair-weather clouds.

Meteorological  summer began June 1.  These are the longest days, now.  These days have been filled with the sounds of cicadas.

There is the regular droning sound in the trees. It washes over you, like rain. It sounds almost metallic, like distant power tools.

There is a second chorus--rising and falling,  a rattling like maracas.

There is the sudden chirping from a single cicada, surprised on a leaf, or when you pick it up from the sidewalk so it doesn't get stepped on. The sidewalks are covered with crushed cicadas.  

These sounds of nature may be accompanied by the sounds of power mowers, leaf blowers, and weed trimmers.

There are the little kids on their scooters, and the big kids shouting and laughing, riding bicycles, playing basketball in the alley. 

And the tinkling music of an  ice-cream trucks beckoning with treats.

Sunday, Sunday here on these tree-lined streets, the sounds of gunfire and bombs are so far away..

 

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Under the same sun

 

 

Remember the eclipse in April, the auroras a weekend ago? These have been once-in-a-lifetime experiences  in this most beautiful spring.

Almost full moon again.  Days of rain and sun.  The  irises are blooming now---and peonies! 

It may be "no mow May"  but  I can hear a  power mowers down the street. Yes, the grass is growing so fast, and so are the milkweeds. It seems to me there are more wildflower gardens and prairie gardens this year.   And vegetable gardens, too. 

Now is the time for planting.  So many varieties of peppers and tomatoes!  Eggplants, beans, zucchini....You can find them at plant centers, hardware stores. The Jewel has them too, along with hanging baskets of begonias. 

People feel an urgency to  be outside.  For some, this means working in the dirt, to feel warm earth in  their hands.

Maybe this happens every year about this time. but this year, there are 17-year cicadas emerging, too.  We have been waiting for them, here in Oak Park. I saw the first shells yesterday. Today, Sunday, I saw some in flight! 

I felt  graced by a creature that knows the warming ground, the feel of the trees, the urgency of life.  There is something ancient, primordial about them.  For a moment,  we share the same air, under the same sun.