Yesterday was hot and humid, a good day to stay indoors as much as possible to avoid heat exhaustion. And here we are, today we're informed will be even hotter. Foliage is curling up in the garden, assaulted by too much heat, and too little moisture.

No complaints, though, because the heat buildup seems to bring rainclouds in the late afternoon, even though none is predicated, and a cooling shower of hard rain is the result. Today, thunderstorms are being predicted for this afternoon.

Shelf fungus

All of which made good sense for a much earlier-in-the-day ravine walk. We left directly after breakfast, and walking up the street to gain access to the ravine introduced us to a taste of what the day is destined to become.

Dogwood

And this weekend is the Ottawa race weekend. Staff at local hospitals are bracing for more admissions than usual, from people pushing themselves too hard and suffering for it; everything from sunburn to heatstroke to heart attacks. And, of course, simply dehydration.

Dogwood

People living along the route have been asked to have their garden hoses at the ready and aim them at the runners as they sprint past. And there will be tens of thousands of people to aim those hoses at.

Honeysuckle

As for us, an amble in the ravine hits just the right spot. And amble we did, taking our time. In fact, as soon as we dipped into the ravine a cooling breeze hit us, surprisingly. Surprising because when its windy usually the wind is felt out on the street level, not well within the ravine. In cold weather it's welcome, in hot weather the reverse is alternately welcome.

Revealing the purple-striped underside of the Jack hood

The dogwood bushes are now in full bloom, and so are the honeysuckles. We even saw a few pinks and we've never seen them in the ravine before. The Jacks are in their strength, and some are preparing to fade, just as the trilliums before them have.

Pink

Another plant we came across that I can't recall seeing before in the ravine is yellow rocket, a member of the mustard family.

Yellow rocket

Plenty of visual treats walking along the woodland trails this morning, and it didn't yet feel hot and stuffy, but cool and refreshing. The cool green of fresh foliage brightened by shafts of sunlight is actually refreshing to the eye.

When we arrived back home after an hour of wandering in the woods, the heat did assail us. And by the time we entered the house, it felt hot indeed.