End of summer

Traditionally Memorial day is considered the end of summer I guess and as far as school goes that makes sense. But not necessarily in Idaho. The days are still hot yet and the nights get cold at times. So I feel that it's not time yet to put away gardening tools. In fact I am watching a watermelon in my garden that must weigh at least 25 lbs and a bunch of cantaloupe that also need some more summer days to ripen. I tried many times to grow melons back in the Midwest but to no avail. The ground was so hard that they couldn't do what they needed to do. Here, it's mostly volanic ash and if you mix humous with it, it grows melons and potatoes and beans and sugar beets. Even though I live in high desert, with irrigation, growth is pretty amazing. Being in the tenth year of a drought is a very real concern here though. The Snake River provides the water for most of the irrigation which in turn comes from the canals all over the area and they get the water from " the Snake ". And the Snake gets it from the runnoff that comes from the melting snow in the mountains of the Tetons, etc. The problem with that is that the Tetons haven't gotten the big snows like in the past. Global warming ? I suspect it is . And this summer has been the hottest on record here. In fact, the worst range and forest fire in the country is just north of us in the Sun Valley area. Sixty four square miles had burned as of Wednesday. Hundreds of homes have been evacuated. We went to eat dinner near there the other day and the smoke plumes were just a few miles away. Today is the anniversary of the death of Princess Dianna. I can remember easily where I was when I heard the news. Had just come back from the local county fair and stopped for a snack. The TV was just announcing the death. What a shock ! Only one example of the fragility of life. Sometimes I am amazed that I have lived as long as I have, considering all the narrow escapes I have had from tradgedy. And those are only the ones I know of. Imagine how many times you have avoided or been saved from horrific things and you never knew it. Maybe left an minute earlier or later and you might have been at the wrong place at the wrong time. Life is so fragile and yet so tenacious. A couple years ago I passed by the very support in the underpass in Paris where the Princess died. An eerie feeling came over me and a sadness. What if she had lived ? What wonderful things could she have accomplished ! This morning, like every other morning, I took a walk along our canyon of the Snake River. Even though I have done it many times, I am amazed every time at the incredible sight of this natural wonder. Almost a half mile across in places, 500 feet deep and a falls near the town that is 52 feet higher than Niagara. To the north one can see the mountains near Sun Valley. In the winter they shine white with the snow. I never fail to be awed by the Creator's handiwork and make it a point to thank him on my walk. What a great place to meditate on all that he has done and continues to do. I need to get my telescope back up and running so I can check out some of the things in the night time sky, more amazing creations that shout at me that there is an incredible universe with stars and galaxies so far away that it takes light millions of years to get here and on the other end, particles so small that they can only be imagined and theorized. All accidents of " nature " ? Hard for me to accept ! So Sunday morning, when I take my walk along the canyon, and see the very tip of the sun come up over it at dawn, I will again thank God for the amazing universe and also my little corner of it.