Only one photo today, kids, mostly lines of symbols combined in various ways in an attempt to communicate!

“Oppressive” could describe the Czech Republic’s summer this year.  Let all political associations of the past century be forgotten, it is nature’s heat which weighs upon us even as it pulls more water from the land and rivers.  The ground is dry, dry to the point of dust clouds, and some rivers are low and hot, starting a dangerous growth of suffocating algae.  This unwelcome green contrasts with the tan, dead blades of grass that break away to expose even more earth.  While we  have not attained a record-high temperature (Apparently that was made last year)  we have had nearly a month of days hovering around 32C (90F) when an average Prague summer lounges at about 23C (73F).  And in this time, little rain has fallen in the fair city – she is showing more than a few wrinkles and cracks.

Tram and bus drivers brake more sharply, people dawdle under the drooping leaves of trees waiting for the relative cool of evening.  I doubt I’m the only one muttering curses.   Czechs go to Croatia for heat, for a self-basting in the Dalmatian sun.  And I moved from Provence, in part to escape its hot, celebrated glare… er, light.  I think the majority of us here in Prague look towards Saturday and Sunday when rain is finally supposed to fall.  At first gently, I hope, so the dusty ground does not roll and peel like burnt skin tearing away from itself.

And in my imagination, the soil justly humectified, a torrent then falls that final breeches the forest canopy and jostles wilted leaves back to health.   Outside the pubs and cafes,  round-bellied men and laughing women do not move as the drops descend, refilling their glasses with something much more refreshing.

One of the greenest pieces of ground right now.