Summer Interlude - where's next?
The grass has burned to a yellow brown. For many weeks, the sky has been a deep blue, with scarcely a cloud in the sky. Each morning I wake confused; surely I am back in New Zealand? The water is even warmer than Wainui! Is it possible that I am really in Wales? The birds have fallen silent. We see them panting on the road verges looking for cooling shade. These are Welsh birds, evolved over countless generations to survive rain and gales and now they are expected to withstand 35C. My enemies, the voles, have disappeared. I suspect there are easier pickings nearby with fields of barley and potatoes; the latter are now being irrigated. I can hear the distant drone of the tractor pumping water from the nearby pond. The stream that runs into the river has almost dried. I'm irrigating my garden as well; the first tomatoes...