It’s so hot ….

It is now almost 2 months since we had rain. For about the 4th day in a row it has been 109+ F at our house. And yes, we do have air conditioning, but you do have to go out sometimes. Today I just went up to church for a while. Just walking from the front door to the car was an ordeal. And then getting into the car was reminiscent of Shaddrach, Mishach and Abendigo. Yes, my car has a/c too. But one has to wait until it gets up and running before it cools anything.

I listen to my friend Elizabeth talk about sitting on the beach in Lower Slower Delaware. Even with her lovely Portuguese skin she would be jerky here in 15 mins. My color tone ranges somewhere between buttermilk and old creamed cheese and would mock a lobster if I exposed it to this sun. The afternoon breeze has picked up but it more like a blast furnace than relief.

It is a summer like this that reminds me that I am back in TX. Watering the grass is like steaming vegetables. But it is times like this that folks have to water the foundations of their homes to keep the slabs from cracking. We have already had a water pipe break due to the heat. (I cringe at the thought of our water bill next month.) But we do have a green lawn! However now the news warns of water rationing. Some ranchers are sending their cattle off to slaughter rather than try to water them. And produce farmers have watched their crops wither and die.

Today most people are complaining of gritty eyes, runny noses as the dust takes its toll on those who just have to commute more than 10 mins. And while we are not like the Dust Bowl of the 1930’s, I feel like those West Texas farmers at the beginning of the Depression—Sere, parched and leathery.

When I lived in upstate NY, the winters had the same effect as do the summers here. When it was -20 folks stayed indoors the same way we stay inside during the hot summer spells. And though the streets were filled with snow, the asphalt never melted under foot as it does here. But cabin fever sets in just as surely as when snowed in.

I met someone who used to live in MN who told me that when he retired he drove south far enough to have someone ask him what that electric cord was hanging out of his engine was. He said he had found his retirement home! And that is sort of how I feel even in this heat.

Even the cats don’t want to go out. They sit in front of the patio door and watch the birds with some interest but not enough energy to wiggle a whisker. Naps or a glass of lemonade and a good book are the remedies for this weather. Reminds me of snow days up North.