Temperature will be in the mid 90's today and is predicted to be 100+ tomorrow. Driving to work this morning I could see the particulates in the air and they weren't from fog. Poor Jasmine, with that heavy undercoat and long guard hairs, is so uncomfortable, even after combing and brushing. I'm thinking of getting her a kiddie pool to splash around in. She lives for the time when I come home and turn on the garden hose to water the tomatoes. She comes to life, jumping for the arc of water and lunging at the droplets. She gets me soaked in the process, but I don't mind in this kind of weather. The wetter, the better.

I feel sorry for our employees who have to work outside in the hottest part of the day. They come into the office, faces flushed red and shirts dark with sweat, for a quick cool-down. What Sue calls OPAC--Other People's Air Conditioning. Then they go back out into the hellish heat. Whatever happened to spring?

The only creatures really enjoying this time are the tomatoes and the bugs. We've had a population explosion of ladybugs. They seem happy enough, insofar as you can tell the emotional state of an insect. The cats lie around in the tall grass under the deep shade of the fruitless mulberry tree in the back yard, too enervated to hunt.

Time to go into summer mode and stay cool and hydrated.