PHOTO-A-DAY CHALLENGE
It's Gettin' Hot in Here
Week 153 of the photographic documentary of my daily life
We’re probably not the only ones experiencing extreme heat and drought, but it’s something we’re not used to in Germany. Temperatures have been increasing for a while with no sign of relief.
But the title image is giving it away. Yes, we did experience some hot thunderstorms that brought some rain along. And a rainbow as well.
This week we spent some time on the road traveling to my grandma and parents as well, and we realized how much traffic stresses us. People just drive crazy over here. On the country roads and on the German highways as well.
We felt like living in a bubble as we often don’t move our car for a week or if we do, only to get to the supermarket 10 kilometers away.
Getting out of this bubble, we got confronted with the craziness of the roads. Everyone is in a rush. Everyone is racing and taking risks. Unnecessary risks. I’m so glad I don’t have to drive to work every morning for an hour. I’d be miserable getting there every morning.
Let’s start this week with the plants that are loving the weather. My tomatoes are getting full sun from 8 am until 5 pm, and since I’m watering them daily, they don’t complain about the drought.
Today I harvested the first ripe cocktail tomato. The tomato was so delicious. Self-grown tomatoes just taste so much better than the store-bought ones.
Friday, I woke up just after sunrise. Having to use the bathroom, I expected it still to be cool and darkish, but when I opened the door of the trailer, I got hit by a heat wave and the brightness of the sun.
This is how the days go. The morning begins clear with not a sign of clouds. During the afternoon, a few clouds appear and build up, but nothing happens. They just blow away during the evening again.
Saturday was no different to it. As you can see below, the picture taken just after sunset shows only a few clouds left. No clouds that would bring rain.
On Sunday, we jumped into the car to head to my grandma. And after jumping out of planes for the whole day, we only started getting stressed now.
One car was overtaking another one on the country road heading straight toward us. I had to do an emergency break trying to avoid a head-on collision.
And people still laugh when I say skydiving isn’t dangerous, driving on the roads is. But the truth is that on the roads, I can’t control the behavior of other idiots.
However, stressed and exhausted, we finally arrived in the evening at my grandma’s. Looking at the thermostat, we knew we’d have difficulties sleeping. To all those friends in the States, Germans don’t have aircons in their homes. We usually don’t get such temperatures.
We still had 30° C (86° F) at 11 pm.
The next day, we moved on from my grandma to my parents. In the driveway, I spotted these tiny wildflowers growing in between the rocks. I don’t know how, but despite the drought and heat, this tiny flower was thriving regardless.
The next day, we stayed in the house most of the day as the temperatures kept on rising. At 5 pm, we reached a high of 39° C (102° F). Looking outside, you can see no sign of clouds anywhere.
On Wednesday, we were driving home again, and finally, the relief was coming. First, Clouds were building, and we weren’t sure if they again would be empty promises. It was raining around us, but then, a huge wall arrived from the west, bringing lightning, thunder, rain, and hail.
I was sitting on the couch in our trailer, listening to the thunder, watching the lightning strikes cross above the horizon and hearing the rain falling onto the roof.
When the rain slowed down, I looked up from my tablet again, seeing a rainbow through the window.
I jumped up and grabbed the phone to capture the full rainbow. It was still drizzling, which is why I didn’t take my camera outside.
What a beauty.
This has been my week in photographs. 7 days. 7 photographs. Anyone can join. Once. Or weekly. It doesn’t matter. We welcome everyone! Dennett started this photography challenge in 2020 and many have participated ever since.
Dennett / Erika / Eileen / K. Barrett / Juan / David / Mia / Susan / LensAfield / Kim / Barbara / Diana / Barb / Sandra / Shruthi / Ellie / Pene / Olive / Gustavo / Jane / Penny / Jillian / Shell / Ivy / Lisa / Lynne
And these are the previous weekly photo essays:
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