Newyorkrita said:You would think gardening would have kept me in shape but I guess not.
You can dig a garden or you can roto-till. You can mow the lawn with a tractor or with a walk behind mower (or a reel mower). It's all a matter of degree, but any gardening is good for the body and mind.
I was just listening to the radio the other day: a popular New year resolution is to get in shape, something like 30% of the year's fitness memberships are sold, and usually after a month or so the "resolute" people stop and go back to their old habits. Kudos to you, Rita.
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Regarding temperature change, I can't explain your first example, Lorn. But, I am not at all surprised about the temperature difference at ground level. Swamp (evaporative) coolers really work, and they work best with low humidity. In respect to turf survival, it's one thing to let the grass go dormant, but it is another to allow the soil to become so dry that it heats up.
There is only one place in these parts that I know of that is called a hollow. It is Sica Hollow across the border into South Dakota. On the shallow hills above, there is hot shortgrass (not even midgrass) prairie, but in the hollow grows the westernmost natural outpost of Sugar maple (which doesn't tolerate drought or heat). Ten feet lower in elevation and inside the maple canopy, the temperature drop is alarming!
