Hot, Dry & Depressing

We're in the middle of a terrible drought and just walking outside is so sad. Everything is brown, brown, brown. Much fewer bird babies than usual this year (though there are some!). Our meadow is completely dried out, except for the prickly pear. We are irrigating every day just to keep things wet near the house. Most of the trees are still green, but the area out back is covered with a two- or three-month-old layer of brown, dry, cedar needles. There have been two fires in our neighborhood, within a mile or two of our house, in the last two weeks, so it's frightening in addition to depressing. Sigh. I ought to be taking pictures anyway, to document this crap year, but I just can't get inspired.