We got a warm, sunny day for the Summer Solstice yesterday after all. Burning the slash became pretty hot work, but it went well. A nice, hot, fast fire with no sparks, and very little smoke, extinguished by the rising tide after eight major slash piles had been reduced.
Clouds obscure The Mountain with No Name on the day before Summer Solstice (Photo: Mark Zeiger).
The day extended into a long, gorgeous evening, not hot, but plenty warm enough to be outside in T-shirts.
Unfortunately, the warm weather brought out a new hatching of horse and deer flies. They were slow and stupid, so we killed a lot of them, but one of them bit me on the wrist while I carried a double load of slash. This morning it’s swelled to the size of a silver dollar, and it itches and aches. It’s that time of year!
Hopefully, the yellow jackets and dragonflies will soon appear. They like to eat deer and horse flies, and are really good at catching them. The forecast is calling for cooler weather soon, so this outbreak shouldn’t last long.