I want to say it was the wild puppy who woke us all at 5 am but it was the anxious and restless human, unable to fall much deeper asleep than a fretful doze all night long. We headed outside for a quick walk around the property and it was shockingly warm, already 76 degrees. Less than an hour later, it was 85.

It's been a long, hot day, the wind so strong that, when I stole away with Walt to Bluffs Park as the puppy napped and the kids here zoom-schooled, you could barely stay on your feet. Then a weird lull at noon, a sudden cool breeze and the thermometer reading 72 degrees. And now the heat again, 90 in the shade, the dogs both passed out on the cool dining room tile, the blankets in the bedrooms looking absurd.