Forgetting the rules

Have you ever ignored your own gardening rules, even though you know they work?

I've long used a "wall of water" on my tomatoes every year through mid-July, when the weather around here finally breaks into dependable heat. But through some crazy combination of denial and optimism I took the things off my plants during a freaky-hot day in May (90, can you believe it?).

Then out of laziness I left them off all through the June Gloom, even though night temperatures dipped dangerously close to that tomato-leaf-curling zone of the mid-forties.

What brought on this destructive behavior?

So far I've been lucky - only a tiny bit of leaf curl on one tomato - but a windstorm a couple of weeks ago did blow over my brandywine. Luckily it's still short and didn't have far to blow.