Today I went down to the marsh with the dog. As I rounded the corner to walk on the gravel path, the smell of dead fish hit me. In the shallow water, a pile of dead fish floated. I tried to keep going, but the stench was too strong, and I gagged. I couldn't help but turn back, and wondered how the man who had walked in ahead of me could stand it. I was told that the reason the fish are dying is because of a combination of the heat and lack of rain. My dad, who has lived here half his life, said that he'd never seen anything like it. This area has had heat and no rain before, so there must be another factor. I walked out the door just now, and dust blew in my face from a passing car, since a construction crew has been tearing up our street. Hell, I thought. Dust and smell of rotting fish, and heat--this must be what hell is like. It hasn't been so hot the past few days, though we had 100 + degrees last week. The heat index was over 112. Up north, some people got rain, and there have been power outages because of storms out east, but here, there is no rain in the forecast. The leaves are falling off the trees, and the crunch of dry leaves reminds you of fall, not summer. I hope we don't have an actual drought. With the fish already dying, what other effects will turn up? I heard of lakes drying out west, and I don't want that to happen to our marsh, though that is a long time in coming, thankfully. We just need rain, soon.