I've waited all day, since before sun up, for the temperature outside to drop below eighty. Still waiting. We haven't had a summer like this for about fifteen or so years - and the dog days aren't even here yet! Ninety-six, with heat index around a hundred. Kinda warm, y'know?
No sign of the thunderstorms the weather folks said were coming our way Saturday afternoon. There are large patches of grass that may not ever recover from the scorching heat, patches that sound like you're stepping on cornflakes - crunch, crunch, crunch. There is one advantage to the dry weather; still haven't had to cut grass yet.
I've decided to leave the a/c on downstairs tonight, in the hope that the house won't be so stinking hot when I get up later this morning. If I wait too long to turn it on, the poor thing struggles against the solar collection properties of the house and never does cool things the way it's supposed to do. (High heat inside makes it difficult to keep the asthma under control.)
There is a constant high-pitched buzz during the daylight hours from insects - locusts, mostly - complaining about the heat. In the late afternoon and early evening, small frogs join the chorus. I have no idea where they come from, as there are no ponds or streams near the house. I make sure the Double-Bar-Bee Saloon and birdbath stays full, just in case the frogs visit during the night. In addition to the birds and bees who drink here, there is a thirsty young cat who drops by for a drink, too. He runs as soon as my hand touches the doorknob, and I doubt I'll ever tame him, but he is a pretty thing to have around; a grey-tan-and-black tabby, about a year old by the looks of him.
The Borough is considering water use restrictions again, which is a good idea if we don't soon get some rain. If the dry spell continues into August, we'll need a lot of snow this winter to replenish our water supplies. The ones feeling the heat most are local farmers and fruit growers. The other day I had to go to Gettysburg to register for some college classes. I drove past a field where the farmer was cutting hay and was treated to the fresh, wet aroma of sweet grasses falling before the blade. By the time I made the return trip home a couple of hours later past the same field, the hay had already lost its fresh aroma and smelled like it had been drying for three or four days. I bet it could have been baled that same day.
I wonder if the unusual (for us) summer is because of global warming, or if the sunspot activity is greater than normal. Whatever it is, sure hope things cool off real soon. I've spent so much time just standing under the running shower head lately that I may be permanently prune-skinned by the end of the month.
Still, things could be worse. Not going to say how, because I don't want to jinx myself.
15 comments:
We're having one of the driest summers for years here in the UK too - bot nothing to the degree (pun intended) of what you are experiencing. Global warming? Who knows... but it sure makes you think.
We have been bugged by the same kind of weather. Which is rather surprising for Finland. But last night... whooooo!... the thunderstorm came! :)
(music begins) High shall she live! High shall she live! Three times high! Hurrah! May this next year of living be a very good one, dear Martha! I shall lift high a pint of spiced summer ale to you tonight!
Thank you for your comments, everyone.
Steve, friend, take this in the kind way it is intended - go soak your head. It helps, tremendously!
RA, thank you for stopping by. I eagerly await your thunderstorms, and a cold front right behind it, if you please. Sure hope the rain cooled things for you.
Rouchswalwe, Oh! that I could join you in that pint. Thank you for the good wishes. I think the next year will be a good one, knock wood!
We've had drought conditions in California for some years now.
I've been hearing about heat waves in so many parts of the world. We're hot here too but not a bad as that, especially with the nights still cooling though it may get worse with the dog days ahead as you say. At least you still have water and so do we. Hope it cools down a bit for you soon. Oh, and you're going to take some courses?
ArtSparker: Drought is still fairly new to us here in south-central Pennsylvania. Although we have had several dry spells in the 35-plus years I've lived here, they are few and far between. We certainly don't have it as bad as California and other western states do.
I wish you a rain-bearing zephyr, followed by cool nights and soft breezes.
Ah, you bring back Pennsylvanian memories. At the foot of the bed two card tables, each supporting a 20 in. fan. The bed stripped of all coverings, even the sheet. Me standing for thirty seconds beneath a cold shower then - still dripping - lying naked on the bed, turning out the light and engaging in a race between the onset of sleep and the drying of my epidermis. If the latter won I would get up, stand under the shower again and reflect that Pittsburgh is on the same line of latitude as Madrid.
I remember summers like that when I was growing up in Detroit. Never got cool, thunderstorms only made it stickier, fans to move around the heat, but no AC at all. Houses built to survive winter, not tropical summer. Bugs everywhere. Much as I struggle with the hotter sun here, the 100% humidity is far worse. Dew point, that's the key.
Marja-Leena: I didn't know so many other areas of the planet are experiencing unusally hot weather, too, until I started complaining here.
As I type this, the darker clouds are beginning to gather, so that rain, forecast for yesterday, just might be on its way.
I hope all of us in the grip of higher-than-normal heatwaves get a really good soaking today. If it isn't accompanied by lightning, I intend to stand out in it again.
BB - Your routine sounds very much like mine of late, only I let the fan evaporate the water before I crash on the bed.
This will pass, though. Mid-September, when we shift toward fall, is only a few weeks away.
You know, that was a really lovely piece of writing. Seriously.
Zhoen: Heavens! Your Detroit childhood sounds like New Orleans in summer, where I grew up. Yuck!
Lisa: coming from you, whose writing I admire, that is a fine compliment, and I thank you, most sincerely.
Ditto Lisa.
I love the physicality of your writing.
I was just thinking today that I'd like to write more about place... but it's hard to do without sounding like a weather reporter or something dull. You do it beautifully.
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