Post Messenger Recorder -

Staying cool is as much a mental as it is physical.  Tree shade works wonders to cut the heat index by 20 degrees on a sunny day.  Other animals know this.  Cattle find and stand under an old oak tree in the middle of a pasture and stay there. 

Seeing something cool or cool-appearing may help, too. 

Ghost plants, also called Indian pipes, emerge in mid-July.  These tiny, all-white herbs resemble a stem, leaves and flower made of snow.  A summer nickname for the ghost plant is ice plant.  Just looking at the tiny, all-white, stem, leaves, and flower has a chilling influence.

How does a ghost plant live?  It is not a fungus, but it lives somewhat like a fungus, connected to other plants and stealing energy from them.  It is not an orchid, although some unknowing real estate agents have been known to describe ghost plants as rare orchids, thereby giving the perception of a much more valued parcel of land.

A walk in the woods during a warm July day, seeing ice plants emerging, may increase a parcel's value to some.