81 this morning, muggy as can be. The "feel like" index was already at 94 while I had my morning tea on the porch. Nice rain late afternoon cooled things down. High for today, 91.
I guess for us country types, the weather is the major topic of interest much of the time. The heat this week has been unbelievable, and I am very glad we're entering a cooling phase for a few days. I can't remember summers like this when I moved here; summer would have a week or two of temps in the high 80's-low 90's, with occasional spikes up to 100 but the rest of the summer was pretty much low to mid-80's with some days where it would be so cool we'd be wearing sweaters and huddling indoors. Those days are certainly gone.
I am not one who enjoys summer. I love gardens and gardening, when the temperatures are moderate, but once the heat hits, I'm indoors except early morning or late evening. I just cannot take the heat like I could when I was younger. And when I was younger, we didn't have weather like this very often. As a child in Manassas, now, yes, it was hot and humid in the summer, with radio contests for guessing the first day the temperatures were over 100 degrees. I was thrilled to come here to milder summers and colder winters. Ah, to have those days back.
We're not prepared to move north, however, and I am not sure moving would be much help since even Canada had extreme heat this summer, even hotter than it was here.. How strange is that? And cool Oregon is still suffering. So I guess we just hunker down and deal with it. The UN climate report this week certainly didn't offer any hope of improvement in the near future, and personally I doubt there will be any worldwide effort to curb warming because it will cost money and mean changes to our way of life that few will want to make. So onward we will go, to assured rising temperatures. I doubt I'll be around when things get really dire, but I am sad for my descendants who will be the ones dealing with this problem. I don't mean to sound so glum but it's been on my mind.
So I will close with a funny story or two to lighten up this post. First was the elderly former Marine in the antique mall the other day. He was a Vietnam vet, and he said, "I was already in Nam when I got my draft notice in the mail. I asked my Sarge, 'Hey Sarge, does this mean I have to go home to report?' Well, you know what his answer was."
Second, a story from a friend, who said that some years ago she was traveling on a major state highway when she saw a crowd of people in a cemetery, She looked closer and saw that there were 3 crosses, and the people were all in costume, re-enacting the crucifixion. "There were three guys on the crosses, and the one who was Jesus looked embarrassed, hanging there in his very white skin, potbelly, and little loin cloth." Of course, these were devout people with good intentions, and I am sure the event was moving for them, but my friend's description was so funny. I am pretty sure Jesus didn't have a potbelly, but it's the thought and intent that counts.
Now, before you throw pies at me for being irreverent, I'll close for today.
I wonder if the hot air has just moved. Here in northwest Arkansas it's been a gloriously cool summer. We've had hot humid days & a week or two of 90s but for the first 25 yrs at least, that we lived here by the end of June we were 90 to 100 with no rain. We stopped mowing in July & start again until Sept, maybe October because everything died. The last 3 to 5 yrs we've had steady summer rains...the grass is so thick we can't even begin to keep up with mowing. And much cooler temps. I hope our summers stay this way but I expect it swing back around again eventually.
ReplyDeleteOur past week has been unbearable, too. I've been indoors more than usual-the heat has been wicked. And no rain. We've had dry spells before, but I don't remember the temperature being so high. Unusual weather, that's for certain. I'm ready for fall!
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