O’Neill: Heat arrives and shade cloth saves the day

Casey O’Neill is a farmer and owner of Happy Day Farms in Laytonville, Calif. The opinions expressed in this column do not necessarily reflect the views of The Mendocino Voice. If you’d like to write your own column for The Mendocino Voice, send your idea to [email protected].

And so June begins with the first warm spell of the season, just enough to remind me to wear my long-sleeved cotton shirt with the wet towel under my hat with ice cubes on top of it, and enough to remind me to put ice cubes, lemon juice and electrolytes in my water bottles. Friday was damn warm, and I ended up with a thumping head by the end of the day. They say once you get heat stroke it comes on much easier afterwards, and the older I get the harder it is to acclimate when the heat arrives. Starting early makes a big difference, so I set the alarm for 5, but I’ve been waking up around 4:30 as the first light appears.