Hot as Hades (got a pitchfork?)

Attendance at today's Mass was down considerably. Not sure why, but can guess: 1) some folks are on summer vacation (holiday), some folks are attending this weekend's SeaFair festival: Seattle's big midsummer blow-out --parades and many other events, culminating in the weekend Hydroplane Races in Lake Washington with massive attendance on-shore and off and aerial thrills such as the Blue Angels fighter team and various propeller-craft pilots doing impressive stunts-- or 3) hiding out someplace that had air-conditioning (of the cooling variety).

It was hot, though Deacon Ed's excellent sermon based on Ezekiel 3 with its contrast of "but his blood will I require at thy hand" versus "thou has delivered thy soul" was anything but light. Especially after review of same in the Scripture Study class at 9 AM. Maybe this is part of why it is easier to evangelize abroad than at home? (On my first flight home yesterday my seatmate was a man involved with establishing churches in China -- last year, he said, he'd flown over there 14 times. That's a LOT of miles spent in airplane seats!)

Enough showed up that I couldn't call it a "low" Sunday. But it was hot enough to get some amusement from the bulletin item from the Garden Guild asking if, for the sake of our gardens, somebody could donate a pitchfork?

Ladies, the gardens are beautiful but now this botanically-ignorant one just has to ask, what on Earth (or otherwise) are you tending there?