The Honest Courtesan

Even at the latitude of Sunset (and its proximity to the Pacific Ocean), it gets pretty damned hot here during heat waves. Once it hit 32^o C on Friday I went out to connect the sprinkler for the pigs; they have no sweat glands, which is why they like to wallow in ponds or mud puddles in hot weather. But we don’t have a pond, so a few years ago I started running the sprinkler for them in afternoons when the temperature gets above 30^o and the sun is too high for long shadows from the trees and buildings. I also move the large basin I normally have positioned below a downspout to collect rainwater for the animals; since there isn’t any rain to speak of here in July and August, I want it where it will fill from the sprinkler (or from the hose when I’m not running the sprinkler). It isn’t supposed to be much cooler until Wednesday, so here (as I promised readers on Twitter) is a picture of both Cicero and Louie enjoying their feed-corn lunch near their water trough while a cool mist falls upon them; you can also see several hens benefiting from the end of the sprinkler’s sweep into their coop, and Jonathan enjoying the shade on the other side.