If you’ve been following along with me on social media, you know my August was a bit of a circus. Between the blistering Alabama heat, a little drought, and taking some much-needed vacation time, my garden got away from me. I’ve spent the last few weeks playing catch-up with the weeds and reclaiming my patch. But as we step into September, I’m looking forward to a fresh start by planting my fall vegetables. There is nothing like getting some cool-weather greens and root crops in the ground to make a guy feel brand new. Collard greens, broccoli, and cabbage—those are just a few examples of fall vegetables that’ll carry us right through the cooler months.

I went on vacation a few weeks ago, including a nursing conference. Prior to that, I spent a lot of time updating my website and working on my blog. There are only so many hours in the day. Plus, I have my day job. Needless to say, I have neglected my garden a little. My cantaloupes are at the end of their life cycle. The tomato vines are dying. Grass is beginning to take over the watermelon patch, and I am late getting my pumpkin seeds started.

What can I say? Life happens! I can only do so much in a day. Managing my arthritis and tendinitis further complicates things. It is now late summer. The Alabama heat and humidity can be treacherous, especially for older adults.

However, I am not going to let this overgrown mess or the oppressive heat get the best of me. When I was a younger man, I could have renewed the whole garden within a day or two. Now that I am nearly sixty years old, I am not as industrious as I used to be.

My mind stubbornly insists that I’m still forty-something, but a scary hot morning in my vineyard proved my nearly sixty-year-old body has slowed down. Read my cautionary hydration story and learn how to recognize a nurse’s early warning signs of heat stress.

Supporting local workers on our new public farm seemed like the right thing to do, until a smooth-talking contractor left us with thousands of dollars in damages. Find out how a painful lesson in community trust forced me to pack my critical nursing thinking alongside my garden tools.