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Wednesday, July 26, 2006

Staying cool when it's not

Does that sunset look hot? It should. Unusual for the west side of the Cascades, our daytime temperatures have gotten as high as 108 but the bigger surprise, in the country where I live, has been lows in the mid seventies at night and 75% humidity. Wow, that was sweat dripping weather and required my taking some usual and unusual methods for cooling off.

This farmhouse has no central air conditioning, but the heat wave led to bringing down from the attic a room a/c unit which has never been used here. Always the creek cools the bedroom enough for sleeping... past tense. Right now, I am grateful it's here, well not totally grateful as it turned out it wouldn't fit in any of the bedroom windows which have openings like the one in the photo; so it had to be put in the bedroom's french door with my masonite boards to block insects from entering and block me from easy access to the vegetable garden. I have made bigger sacrifices for less reason.

Mostly what I have done in the past to keep the house cool, I still do. Open windows wide at night. Keep them and blinds closed during the daytime. As a side note: The view you see out my study window looks toward the vegetable garden and beyond to what was my mom and dad's trailer.. oops mobile home-- saying trailer when Mom was alive led a tart correction. We could have removed it after she died, as it was here on a hardship permit granted when you have older parents who need help, but she had this cat. Know any other cats with their own mobile homes? I tried multiple times to convince him to come live here but no go. He knew where his home was and didn't care for our cats at all. When he passes on, the trailer, er mobile home, can go also. I am unsure how old he is but definitely old old and going strong. We had to get a continuance to keep the mobile here using it as a work and storage space. We didn't add it was where Joey would live out his life. The state's main concern was that no person lived there. Well no person does.

For cooling, sprinklers suit the cows fine and actually when timed to go off around the house in the afternoon, they suit me too. Those and fans to circulate the air fool me into at least thinking it's cooler.

The creek is a good place for sitting on a fallen log or wading on a hot day. Heck, a good place for lying out flat in the stream-- if the crawdads don't decide a meal just moved into their neighborhood.

(The sunset from the bedroom window was not enhanced. It was as though the sky was aflame with the heat.)

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

Wow, you continue to melt--only it is harder work for you, I think. Running in the irrigation sounds good to me. Touching story about your mom's trailer--and now the cat's home. We had my grandpa in a trailer on our property when I was growing up. A little cooler tonight--and I mention you at Sacred Ordinary. Cute picture, by the way, of you beating the heat.

goldenlucyd said...

Hey you gorgeous thing!
I'm leaving now for a bit of nervous collapse. Sorry to hear abou the West Coast heat. It's really quite lovely here in the CO Rockies. Only in the 80's and 90's
with rain almost every afternoon. I can't believe the climate changes in my lifetime. Scary, quite frankly.
You really ARE a knockout, Rain!

robin andrea said...

We finally have cooler temperatures. Monday night the pacific marine air blew in, and the temps dropped to 60 degrees in about five minutes! It was amazing, and so welcome. I hope it happens for you soon, Rain. These high temps are so unbelievably oppressive.

I love that you are taking care of the cat in his own trailer. That's quite a story. How long has he been there on his own? You are so kind and good-hearted to not make him move and let him stay to live out his days where he is comfortable.

You do look cool and beautiful in that creek.

Mary Lou said...

Like Robin said...The cool marine layer and fog moved into the strait, and cooled things right down!! I am sitting here with goose pimples on my arms but I aint complaining one itty bitty bit!! Just glad I do not have to move irrigation pipes in this heat!!

chumly said...

Now that cat belongs on the Blue Collar network for sure. I guess you can say you know your cat is a redneck if he stays when everyone else passes on.

Dick said...

Eastern Washington has been hotter than normal for the last week but the humidity isn't as high. Because of that it has not been too bad. I have been leaving the AC on in the motorhome for Huggy though. Got to keep her Highness happy!

Ingineer66 said...

It looks hot in those pictures. Been hot here too. The low Sunday night was 82. My pool is 91 not very refreshing. I am not sure about climate change in my lifetime just wierd weather. We had lots of rain last winter and now lots of heat this summer. Seems to be returning to what it was when I was a kid. I remember TV stations from the SF bay area coming to my home town to do stories because it was 119 or something like that back then.

Rain Trueax said...

that was funny, chumly. Yep, he's likely a redneck and me too. :) I don't see it as the insult some would. Just a country woman who likes the simple pleasures. It's how I grew up.

and thanks for the compliments from you all about that photo. It's kind of an odd one in a way as it was with the telephoto which tends to blow up the middle and well you know how fisheye does. I liked it anyway though or maybe more because it did that. I like pictures that have a certain feeling to them and say something more than their parts. I felt that one did-- expanded middle or not.

Anonymous said...

I love the pics, Rain, they give a tangible sense of the place and of you. You're lucky to have all that land around you and the creek too. Sometimes I wish I was back to living on the land, in Paraguay.