Dog Days

- Record breaking heat all this week....102-104 in many local areas....and dry...

- Even mid 90s on the mountain properties....unprecedented in my 5+ years here...and the 'old timers' say unprecedented period. Are times changing?

- Nights stay in the 70s....a stagnant hot air mass.....

- Trees struggling....a giant (80') Chestnut Oak in my front yard has died....record breaking cold in April hurt it badly....then drought...then record breaking heat......A sad ending to a long life....Tulip Poplar leaves already turning yellow and brown...Blackgum already turning burgundy...too early!

- Three deer....two does and a buck (see attached for two smaller bucks in the front yard recently)...at the mineral blocks early AM. Nervous but healthy looking despite the hostile conditions.

- With the hot, hazy conditions...the old warning...."Red sky at morning, sailor take warning".....must not apply to southeast Tennessee....as the sunrise has been quite red the last couple of days.