We’re now into August – my least favourite month of the year. When I was a kid, August meant back to school shopping, and seeing your friends so there was a sense of excitement and newness in the air, especially if you were starting to get bored with the summer. Many people still have that sense that September is the real start of a new year.

But as an adult I find August depressing. Summer is slipping away, with colder weather waiting in the wings, surely welcome this year after all this heat and humidity, but looming right behind it is winter, which is fun for awhile but tend to overstay it’s welcome. It’s getting dark earlier, 8 pm although that’s nothing compared to November’s 4:30 gloom, which many people struggle with but I find cozy because you can always light some candles and snuggle indoors.

I’ve always struggled with August – it’s my birthday month, so I’m another year older, and on top of that my mother died this time last year, four days after my birthday. I spent a lot of time with my mother, especially over the past decade since I retired, not just because it was the right and daughterly thing to do as she got older, but because she was such a nice person, and I’m missing her right now as the anniversary of her death approaches and most of the numbness and busyness has worn off. But time marches on and we must too, whether we feel like it or not.

Plus I’ve been confronted with all the things I was planning to do this summer which I didn’t, particularly true this year with all the heat and air quality and wildfire smoke warnings. You’re afraid to step outside for fear of inhaling tiny particles that will live in your lungs forever. There have been very few beach days. I’ve watched a lot of Blue Jays baseball.

But last Sunday in an effort to get out of the house I picked up a friend and went to an arts and crafts fair in the waterfront park. My mother and I used to go to these all the time, as she was an artist and there were always lots of booths displaying art, and we knew many people in the art community. With names like Artscape, Art in the Park, and Art Walk, they were always good for an afternoon of strolling and visiting and eating, and occasionally buying a piece of art or jewelry.

This particular event, called Shop the Shoreline, was advertised as having 100 vendors. There were 50 at most, none of them very interesting – lots of homemade candles, tie-dye t-shirts, beaded jewelry, a lot of junk I’m at a loss to describe, and no art at all. We stopped at maybe two booths, bought nothing, saw no one. The only food was hot dogs being sold by the Rotary club. I know many activities haven’t recovered from the pre-pandemic days but where did all the vendors go….I guess they must be selling online. It was not crowded as it was so hot and humid – it was so stifling among the tents, that after a quick look through we walked back along the boardwalk to take advantage of the breeze off the water.

But all was not lost as this park has lovely flowerbeds. It must cost the city a fortune to maintain them, especially this year with the relentless heat. So please accompany me for a tour of the day’s silver lining.

It was a relief to stand near the fountain’s mist and go home to the A/C….and the ball game.

In contrast, my garden has not been quite so lush. My gladioli did not pan out – too much heat meant no bulbs for most of the glads. Not quite the vision I had in mind.

I planted these in front of the garden box so the chicken wire could serve as support.

I got three, two pink and a yellow out of this tropical color package. For the ones I planted at the front of the house, the score was 2 pink out of a package of 15 bulbs. The rest have greenery, but no flowers yet although I haven’t entirely given up hope.

Tomatoes and glads – isn’t that a sign of August!

The zinnias did not fare much better – lots of greenery – two flowers. I think next year I’ll just buy them at the farmer’s market.

Some of the geraniums have perked up a bit – all they needed was a bit of rain. It’s raining as I type this – finally, a whole inch. According to the news tonight there are 731 wildfires burning across the country, (none anywhere near me thank god), including some near popular vacation spots and cities. I can’t imagine being a firefighter in this heat. If this summer is the new norm – I’m looking forward to fall.