Whoever says its a beautiful day out there should try building walls in this weather.

This multi-tiered dry stone wall garden area we created last summer is looking a bit like a deserted archeological site this week. It lies dormant of flora, except for dry grasses. It's still awaiting a massive planting of native flowers and shrubs. But the weather is so dry and hot.

I remember how hot it was when we were building these walls. No shade. The heat was oppressive. The sun's electrical rays zapped us without mercy and sapped us of our energy.

Our chisels were too hot to pick up sometimes. Most of the building material had to be carted up hill and the rocks seemed twice as heavy because of the heat.

We tried to build under our canopies and take breaks and drink lots, but the memory of how tired and hot we got building these walls still lingers.

Working in this week's severe heat reminds me of that project which we started building a year ago about this time.

I don't like August.