ALMANAC
August 2025
By Ashley Walshe
August is a dog’s wildest dream.
Beneath the swaying hammocks where the summer-weary rest, the sleeping pup paddles his oversized paws, snout and whiskers gently twitching.
Mute the color palette. Attune to ultrasonic frequencies. Press your nose to the warm earth and breathe.
Can you smell the amalgam of humus and bee balm? Honeysuckle and musk? Grass clippings and sun-dried worms?
Each inhale carries a luscious stream of scents, a delectable river of possibilities. Each inhale is ecstasy.
At once, nose and paw lift as if pulled by invisible strings. A series of quick sniffs this way. A series of quick sniffs that way. A head tilt, an ear twitch, a rabbit!
Adventure calls.
Plow past the towering Joe Pye, the gleaming goldenrod, the coneflower, milkweed and asters. Faster, faster! Follow the trail, follow your instincts, follow that fluffy white tail!
Lunge left! Lunge right! Dive straight into a — cool, clear creek?
No signs of rabbits in this next dream. You plop down, let your belly press into the silty streambed, take a long, rhythmic drink. The queenking of treefrogs fills the air. A dragonfly lights on your withers.
In the third dream, you’re back with your people, belly-up in the dappled shade, nose wiggling. There’s a picnic blanket, a watermelon, a platter of cucumber sandwiches. This is a dream, right? Sure feels like it. Wonder if they’ll notice if I just sneak one bite.
How to Eat Watermelon
Grill it. Drizzle with honey. Pickle the rinds. Make salsa, gazpacho or caprese.
There’s sorbet, smoothies, minty lemonade. Mocktails, mojitos and ice pops. Good old-fashioned juice.
Serve it sliced, scooped or cubed. Spice it up with lime, salt and chili. Or not. There’s no wrong way to eat or drink it.
Seed Spittin’, Etc.
Nothing says August like a bellyful of watermelon.
Believed to have originated in Africa’s Kalahari Desert as the white-pulped Kordofan melon, the modern beauty we know and love has come a long way, baby. As evidenced by its presence in tomb paintings, the striped fruit was sacred to the ancient Egyptians, cultivated as both a water and food source. Often buried alongside pharaohs, the fruit’s high water content was believed to aid souls on their arduous journey to the afterlife.
Today, popular varieties include crimson sweet, sugar baby, moon and stars, jubilee and Charleston gray.
Celebrate National Watermelon Day on Aug. 3 with a cold one.
The change always comes about mid-August, and it always catches me by surprise. I mean the day when I know that summer is fraying at the edges, that September isn’t far off and fall is just over the hill or up the valley.
— Hal Borland