How do we know when summer has finally arrived?

To tell the truth, summer is not my favourite season. The heat is simply too much for me. Last year, I was working in an office during summer for a short time. I would leave the office at around four-thirty, but the temperature was still higher than 35°.  Walking back to the station was a nightmare. Every time I had to wait for traffic lights to change before crossing the road I had to look for protective cover from the sun’s rays.

I think one of the big signs that summer has arrived is the sound of cicadas.  Last week, when I went to water my garden I found a cicada sitting on my Mimosa tree. It was the noisiest cicada I had ever heard.  The volume of sound was actually quite shocking. The advent of summer always means that I have to work harder in my garden. The most time-consuming activity is the watering. In this heat, vegetables have to be watered twice a day. It is actually quite interesting to look at plants and vegetables in scorching heat. Their leaves wilt and drop-down as though they are dying. In actual fact, this is not the case. Plants drop their leaves in intense heat in order to save water. Like me, they are waiting for the cool of the night.

Unfortunately, in recent years, as a result of global warming, there is no longer any naturally cool nighttime. These days we have to be very careful that we do not have an attack of heat exhaustion while we are asleep because it might well kill us if we do not wake up in time.

So, the simple truth is that I am looking forward to autumn.

Have a great summer.

Buri