Another great use for a dried beef glass! (See the entry for May 14, 2006.) Along with our very hot summer, we’ve had periodic rains that have lessened the intensity of our garden watering regime. Some of the downpours have filled the ditch, usually a springtime phenomenon; it has delusions of petite grandeur and considers itself a pretty stream at times. According to our spiffy new rain gauge, in the last two weeks we’ve had two deluges of more than two inches each, several 5/8-inch rains, and a steady shower one recent night that amounted to 1 and 7/8 inches. The combination of blazing sun, sultry atmosphere, and plentiful precipitation has elevated some of our gardens to jungle status, kept the lawn springtime green, and given us a bumper crop of peppers, tomatoes, and flowers of all kinds. Of course, we have been forced to work outside in the relative cool of the early morning and then to retreat to the porch or the air-conditioned house for the midday unpleasantness, but it’s fun to have such high-tech instruments to measure the trend.