Wednesday, August 1, 2018

Heat wave

Pardon me while I whine for a bit.

For the last two weeks, we've been in the grip of a heat wave. It's laughably cool by some people's standards -- our high was 97F and we don't have much by way of humidity -- but without air conditioning, it's just plain hot. Whine whine.


I hate heat. I always have. I get grouchy and snappish when I'm hot. I can happily walk the dog when it's -0F (you can always bundle up), but go outside when it's over 90F? Ug.

We used to live in central California and then later southwest Oregon. In both places, the summer temperature could effortlessly reach 115F. I wanted to estivate during those times.

When we lived in Oregon, there was a husband/wife team who hosted the morning radio talk show. The wife was in heaven whenever the mercury climbed over 105F. She adored hot weather. Couldn't wait to get outside. I thought she was nuts.

I simply cannot fathom living in the southwest or anywhere it routinely hovers around 100F or higher. Been there/done that/hated it.

I feel intensely sorry for anyone who must work outside during these times -- highway workers, construction workers, landscapers -- and of course, all the hard-working firemen and women fighting the insane fires in California and other places.


Around here, anything outdoorsy gets done in the wee hours of the day. I'm out in the garden by 5:30 am. Mr. Darcy gets his long walk by 9 am. (We dash out for a short walk around 4 pm or he'd climb the walls.)

It's times like this I can't wait for fall. Maybe even winter.

Okay, whine-fest over.

21 comments:

  1. Here too. It has been terrible. I had to look up estivate. Never heard that one before. Good idea.---ken

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    1. Me too Ken. Ah come on Patrice, ya gotta work with us the great unwashed Deplorables as Cankles would say. ha ha. Just teasing.
      Dock Guy

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  2. I'm with you Patrice. Grew up on the Texas Gulf coast with both heat and humidity. Loved it....then I moved to the Willamette Valley in Oregon, got older, gained some weight (I tell people I'm twice the woman I used to be) and the heat wipes me out. I look forward to rain, cool weather, cold nights for sleeping and my family in Texas think that I am crazy.

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  3. estivate... thanks for expanding my vocabulary today.

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  4. I'm with you on this one, I like to say that this kind of heat is one of the reasons I left California, I get physically ill with this type of weather, I am already thinking of fall.

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  5. It has been very hot and humid here the last month as well. I find the older I get, the less I enjoy the heat.

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  6. I can tell you that the last week has been miserable, with temperatures last Wednesday at 113 degrees here in Redding, Ca and being socked in with this smoke,and now the two fires from the Mendocino Complex adding to the already thick smoke. I've barely left the house. My poor husband works outside in it everyday. I just don't know how he does it. I have notice though that since he turned 66 he's not taking the heat as well as he used to. It's an oxymoron, we need a good stiff wind to blow the smoke out of the valley, but yet, it stirs up the fires. God, we need a bit of a break here.

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  7. Florida summers are like North Dakota winters.....you stay inside a LOT! Farm rounds are done from 7:30 to 9 a.m. Evening rounds are started after 7 p.m. I do lots of inside projects in the summer....quilting and soap making are two activities that pick up in the heat of summer. Fall gardening starts in October and is in full swing in November when I can stay outside until lunch!

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  8. Have had enough, am ready for snow! Traveled to the coast this week, so got away from it. To be cooler when get back home Friday, but heat back up next week. Fall can not come too fast, maybe will even bring us some rain.

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  9. I feel the same way. One of the many reasons for moving out of CA. Summer temps would be over 100. Love living in north eastern Washington. Even with the heat wave here the nigh time temps are always cool.

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  10. Oh, sister! I feel the same! I'm so much more productive in cooler weather :D At least our nights will cool off, here in NW WA.

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  11. 'm a hot weather fan. 98* in dry ol' Colorado and I'm in my element. I don't prefer any further south because it's too dry, making it too iffy to grow my beloved gardens and plants. But give me a hammock under the cherry tree with a lemonade in my hand at 90* and I'm in heaven.

    Cold is miserable. I get cold clear down to my core and the only way to warm up is baking. My best inventions of cinnamon caramel rolls, dried fruit breads and herb breads to eat with rich oven stews come along on the coldest days just so I can sit in the kitchen near the stove.

    If, for some awful reason, I get sent to hell it won't be burning. It will be cold and slushy with whipping sharp winds.

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  12. It's sitting at 104* where I am, down from 106* earlier. I'm going to estivate at the movie theater tonight with my wife... 'Almost sounds naughty...

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  13. Off topic, but congratulations Patrice on today's SurvivalBlog Guest Post: Dehydrating Raspberries. Great article. Awesome photos.
    Dock Guy

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  14. I love hot weather. I hate the cold. However, the humidity makes all the difference in how hot I get and how hard it is to breathe.

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  15. You are singing my music. I am in the Sacramento Valley-almost as miserable as the Central Valley. Hot-hot from end of June to October; unless we get the Delta Breeze it never cools off at night. Now with all of the fires, the smoke/smog ratio is terrible. And! No air conditioning for you! Global warming/climate change has pushed electric rates through the roof. I wait until it is 90 in the house before we turn on the AC. I hope to be on the Oregon Coast this time next year.
    -Stealth Spaniel

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  16. I estivated last August. We live in the South and I researched the coolest places to be and planned a 2 week trip to the Rockies, Yellowstone and Tetons. The nights that were in the 50's were heavenly. We plan to do this every other year but hope to take our dogs with us next time. We have 2 Great Pyrenees, a Rhodesian Ridgeback and a Snoodle (she went last time). We are preparing for the trip now, exchanged our popup with a toy hauler, and other things to make traveling with them easier. I would like to be gone for the entire summer. Working one step at a time with hubby.
    -Hot, Humid and tired of summer in the south.

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  17. Today will be our hottest at 112F! Looking forward to Fall.
    Janae @ Creekside Farmstead

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  18. Depends on the person. I moved to the Mohave Desert intentionally for the heat. It gets well into the 120's regularly and I DO work outdoors all day. If it is below 80, i wear a coat. My dogs love the A/C indoors all day and run and play at night when temps hover around 100. The wife says my heart is not pumping so i need the heat to keep my body warm. Everybody is different.

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    1. LOL -- I would curl up and die in that kind of heat, and you'd probably do the same during a snowstorm here. I'm glad you found a place that works for you. God made us all different.

      - Patrice

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