Summer was hot and humid this year as usual, with the usual assortment of wasps. The tick population seems to have exploded this season, especially deer ticks. Poison ivy is everywhere, profiting from hotter summers. Honeybee sightings have diminished greatly over the past decade; this is the second year with zero honeybees in the area. Bumblebees and other pollinators have filled the honeybees' niche despite local pesticide use. As of today, there has been only one day with comfortable temperatures and humidity levels; one can only hope that the arrival of autumn will not seem like a second "monsoon season" such as what we seem to experience each spring. It will be good to get out and walk again, maybe put up a hammock, feel the breeze, and listen to the birds!