We barely saw the outside of the house this week, between the heat wave and a nasty bout of the flu that gripped our house. While we lay dormant, the yard turned to jungle fed on the power of late July. We stepped outside to a tangle of grass, bees, blinding sunshine. Tomatoes bleeding orange from the deep heat, butternut vines creeping like hunters through burnt grass. Echinacea full and heavy, hundreds of crowned spiky heads bowing in worship to the dead of summer sun. And cabbage swirling itself into a river of rippled taffy, kneading wave upon wave to a knot of crimson. Enough beauty to take your breath away. Especially when you’ve been stuck in artificially chilled air for seven days.