Humid days, rainy nights.

Weather Aside:
Did you ever wonder at what point in the 40 days and nights of rain Noah's scoffing neighbors and townspeople began to stop doubting and start wondering if G-d perhaps hadn't sent them a warning message of preparation too, and somehow they'd missed it themselves?

After another night of winds, lightning strikes, thunder booms and sirens, the empathy thing is kicking in here...

Not that I'm complaining:
I'm on about the 7th broccoli harvest with all this rain: snip the heads, days later after rain and sun, more fresh ones to harvest and eat, blanch and freeze. The Romas are coming in nicely, with just a few minor skin imperfections on the ones that were marred by the hail. With all the tomato varieties this year ripening at different times, I'm keeping up. And I just freeze -- not can.

I finally uprooted the yellow beans -- making it easier to collect what was left on their unstaked bushes. Most had no imperfections. My neighbor in the community garden -- former Mennonites from Barron -- had some beautiful purple pods from a special seed they grow. They took a hit from the hail, but there still was plenty. They try to eat all live foods -- no meat, nothing processed -- and the children's eyes, in the summer anyways, reflect their lifestyle choices.

What else? The pumpkins will be plentiful this October. Squash too -- which you can't beat with butter, and honey or brown sugar, cooking in it's own shell in the oven come autumn. Acorn squash especially. I've pulled a few cantelope off brown vines that separated from the main plants in that hailstorm. Not too sweet, but juicy, and did I mention how any fruit you take -- even in small quantities -- unsweetened and added to ice cream and milk makes the most delicious calcium treat?

A cantelope milkshake. Who knew?

That's all I've got to share here, this fair weather Friday. Hope your weekends, any extra summer work, are shaping up as well.

And nobody out there is losing any sleep having missed his calling as an ark builder...