Is Summer Over Yet?

My grass is dying. I give up trying to keep it green. Our water bill last month was $160 (the environmentalists will probably hate me for wasting so much water on aesthetics) and the grass still struggled to look lively. All of the plum trees died. The heat killed them – at least that is what I blame it on. The roses are struggling as well – nary a new leaf or bud in the last two months. Heck, if you left me outside in 118° day after day for two months I’d die to – in fact it happens to tourists quite frequently at the Grand Canyon. Arizona heat kills plants and people. No wonder nothing is green here.

Speaking of green… our little experiment of putting reflective insulated bubble packing over our windows to reduce the transfer of heat (aluminum windows) failed miserably to decrease our electric bill. Yes, it looks white trashy from the outside, but on the inside it is much cooler than without it. I can live with the white trash look for a couple of months for a cooler room. Oddly this is the thing we can’t figure out – the room is completely bearable compared to last summer so why isn’t the electric bill lower? We had considered replacing the windows, but unfortunately a $15k investment in our house was out of the question in this real estate market. Summers are brutal here and Fall isn’t any better.

I don’t believe the grass will recover during the wind down to fall (fall in Arizona? Now that is an oxymoron). Really, fall is a mere five to ten degrees cooler than summer and I would say most people will agree 100° is not “fall-like” weather. Two months to better weather is the way I see it. Two months left of unrelenting heat and then….green grass.