Hello to all of you Marshall Mountain Wave readers and greetings from the jewel of the Ozarks, Leslie, Arkansas. It was another beautiful week here in Leslie, the weather has not been too brutal so far this year. It has only been in the lower 90s but the humidity has been through the roof. It has been very steamy the past few days, it has been very foggy in the mornings. The old wives tales say that for every day of fog you have in August you will have a day of deep snow in the winter and so far according to this theory we are due quite a few snow days this winter. It is too early in the year to read the signs of winter with the wooly worms and the persimmon seeds but that time is coming Fall is just around the corner as my grandmother would say. We did get some rainfall this week not enough to make the grass grow but enough to cool things off and add to the humidity. The weather has made for a bumper crop of ragweed, mold and mildew so the air quality has not been good for folks that have breathing problems. The rain did knock some of the, end of summer grit out of the air. That kind of grit that just seems to show up in late August on everything. With the cicadas humming and buzzing in the evenings and the lightning bugs are at their brightest and shininess that can make late Summer here in the Ozarks seem just magical in the evenings. Summer is winding down fast this year school has started back. I think they are using a different school bus this year to pick up the kids in Leslie. Last year and the first couple of days this year it would roar up the hill by my house like a tank but it was either fixed it or replaced it, because it goes up the hill almost unnoticed now. I know these things because I am an early riser there are many of us in town. During the summer I am up by 4 am and getting ready for my day the bakers at the bakery are up earlier than that getting everything ready to beat the heat. They use a sourdough recipe for their baked products so it is very sensitive to heat and humidity. They really have to know what they are doing at the bakery. It takes a lot of knowledge to produce a consistent product that is so reactive to the environment. I get up early in the summer to beat the heat as well so I get to see the sun come up on a new day every morning that is when you see the shift of wildlife from creatures of the night and the creatures of the day. There is a little family of skunks down the hill from my house I see them headed to the play park every morning, when we walk the dog, with their little tails in the air we keep a good distance from them because no one wants to surprise a skunk let alone a whole passel of them at once. We see our fair share of rabbits and dear and an occasional wild turkey and ducks near the creek. There are two huge blue herons that are at the creek each morning lately standing on one leg waiting for breakfast to come swimming or hopping by. I love that Leslie has so many beautiful little places all over town to just enjoy the scenery and nature. There are a lot of places that have beautiful flowers planted all over town and that is no accident there is a whole group of people who value beauty and civic pride so they will plant those flower beds and do the work of keeping them alive for the betterment of the community. Thank you! Soon Fall will be upon us and the leaves will be changing color it will be a perfect time to see the fall colors and come and visit Leslie for a day trip. Come early for breakfast or brunch and stay later for lunch and supper we have a lot going on in our lovely little town so come in and see us. Well I hope you all bloom where you are planted and have a great week full of beauty and delight and all the kindness and blessings all around.
