It has been so hot that you could hardly breath during the month of July.  Nothing is growing.  The newscaster said it was the hottest July on record.  I believe him.  My electric bill doubled--air conditioning.

But my okra loved it. The puny little stalks of May and June grew like Jack's beanstalk in July--to the sky.  I gave okra away, fried it, and still can't keep up with it.

It was so hot that my parsley, onions, green peppers, kale and lettuce never grew.  They burned up.  Even my tomatoes were pitiful.  Next year I am going to plant a different kind of tomato.  You may like Jet Stars, but to me they taste like mush.   I'm going back to Beefsteak, or Big Boy or Better Boy. Or some old Heritage cultivar.  I know--they have a tough core, but they taste like heaven.  I can cut the core out.  They won't be pretty, but they will be delicious.

I never thought I would say this, but I am ready for cold weather.  And I know that once it is here, I will be longing for spring--even summer.  I've lived in Florida.  I've lived in California four different times.  The weather is so boring.  I missed the seasons of Oklahoma.  In Oklahoma, the weather is always exciting.  Thunder, lightening, hail, wind, tornados, sleet, snow, poring rain, sunshine so hot you stay inside in the summer, and winters so cold you think you will freeze.  But something is always happening.  Oklahoma is definitely not boring.  I love Oklahoma.

Ken was overseas almost every other year.  When he got back from his last over-seas tour he said that God willing, he would never leave again.  And he didn't.  Near the end, he would say, "Let's go drag main street."  So I would get him in the car and drive him to town.  And he would say, "I love this town.  I love Oklahoma."  And he did.  He had seen enough of the horrible side of the world.

How God has blessed us to live in a land where we are free to move to some other place if we don't like the place we are in.  But as for me, I am content.  Like the apostle Paul said, "...I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content."  Philippians 4:11