Okay, okay, so that calendar says that summer starts next week, but meteorologially-speaking, and based on actual in-the-dirt experience (when it actually feels like summer on the farm and which coincides with what indigenous cultures consider seasonal starts) summer started in the first week of May (45 days before the summer solstice)... and we've reached the first week-plus of 100-degree-plus weather. Whew. We're never ready for this, and always worry about the animals being ready for it. We make sure that they have plenty of shade, and both chickens and sheep get misters to create a micro climate of cool for them. We make sure that the soil under our porch is moist so that our cats and dog have a cool, shaded place to lay. But even with all of these things, we still worry, and try not to leave the farm without a human presence during the hottest times of the hottest days. As always, humans are essential components of our little farm ecosystem.