Coping

We didn't have air conditioning when I was a kid, although I don't remember it being as hot then in summer as it is now.  On hot nights, we'd take blankets and go the the park or the backyard and sleep on cool, well-watered grass.  Given the nighttime predators, lack of grass and the dearth of water, that isn't an option here.  My Kids grew up with a swamp cooler in the house.  In my opinion, all that did was raise the humidity.  Come to think of it, I didn't get the luxury of A/C until I bought my house in West Sacramento.  Now I dream about it.

Once upon a time I used to bake a lot of bread by hand.  It was a problem up here because it was too hot in summer and too cold in winter for the dough to rise well.  That was solved when we refurbished the kitchen and put in an oven with a proof cycle.  Now if I get the rare urge, I use the breadmaker.

Given the cats' snugly sleeping habits in winter, I'd wondered how we'd cope in summer.  I needn't have worried.  I think they go downstairs.  Michael shifts between my bed and the one in the guest room.

Michael continues to shed clouds of fur.  I brush him every day, and still he sheds.  I'm thinking of getting him a wading pool.  Bessie Anne got good use from hers.  Me?  I fill the spray bottle continually.  Talk about bad hair days!, but it gives some relief.

Here I am complaining and it's only in the 90s.  Nature hasn't really turned up the temperature yet.  The weatherman is already talking about breaking records.  I don't find that nearly as exciting as he does.

That's okay.  We'll cope.

Stay safe.  Be well.