It amazes me that as warm and humid as it can get here, and then I see some of your numbers. Everything is relative I guess. Today was as humid as I can remember. The dew point hit 76. I'm sure we all have our points where we long for that first seasonal cooldown (and I'm ready, just for a couple of days). The further south you are the later it is. Sunday is supposed to be sunny, dry , and 81 with very low humidity. We topped out today at 90 (twice and it was cloudy), the humidity was 73%, the dew point 76, and the heat index at 101. I spend 1/2 my time in a warehouse and it was MISERABLE!. Some of my co-workers are back there 10 hours a day. As I write this, ironically the sun is coming out. I can see how fast some plants can grow. My tall coconut is basicallt growing in a day more than then last 4 days and my banana has pushed 60% of its newest leaf since last night. We bare supposed to stay like this until tommorow evening.

Hi, Lori. I'm so sorry for your loss. I do dried flower crafts, & just this year I've seen some garlands with dried pumpkin chunks online. While you can't save the whole pumpkin, you may be able to cut a chunk w/ the marks and dry it. I would trim as much flesh from it as possible, and dry it on a dehydrator or a low-200 degree oven. As the others said, planting a pumpkin from the seeds would be a nice way to remember your pet. Some pumpkin-carving sites can make you a pattern from a photo-your pumpkin next year could display Drive's image. Even if you don't do that, I would definitely save the seeds to plant. Just air-dry them on a paper towel (the top of the fridge is good because there's a little warmth), seal them in a bag, and keep dry. Some people recommend putting them in a Mason jar in the fridge 'til spring planting time. Take care!

Thanks for the post. I have always had a plastic one that I used often. With my bathroom remodel I lost the hook that I hung it from. this one would work possibly as a replacement to hang from my grab bar. Thanks.

Location, location, location, Joan! As I understand it the jet stream steered all the moisture and storm systems north during the winter and spring, and now we have a big high pressure system over us that just steers them in a big circle around us. The things that are making us dry are making others wet. I'm sure the folks flooding in the mid-west and along the Mississippi earlier this year would've been happy to share some of their water with us! I remember a few years ago when the Southeast was baking and dry, we were wet here, for us, because all the moisture got pushed over our way. I'm definitely ready for something to move or change. The famous Dust Bowl in the 30s was centered in this region. For calender year 2011 we are four times drier than any year during the Dust Bowl. Of course, drought length adds to severity too, but, we be dry.