Coping with the heat wave

Front porch flowers

My front porch flowers don't get full sun all day long, just until around noon each day at this time of the year. Under the ray of sun in the middle of the picture to the right of the beam, you can see a teeny little bit of Mt. Baker, but for me it is the beautiful flower colors that give me so much pleasure. I tend these flowers a little bit each day, and talk to them about how much I appreciate them.

We are in the midst of an unprecedented heat wave here in the Pacific Northwest. A huge dome of high pressure is bringing us heat like we've not experienced since records have been taken here in Whatcom County. And it's not over yet. It made it all the way to 95°F here yesterday, and tomorrow is supposed to reach 100°F. It has never before been this hot in Bellingham, at any time of the year. We are just a quarter mile or so from the bay, so we tend to get cooling temperatures from the water, but not today. Or tomorrow. Until this heat wave breaks, there is no respite from the heat unless you have air conditioning, which we do not.

It usually falls in the evening and during the night to the fifties or low sixties, but last night's low temperature was 69, and tonight it will be a few degrees warmer than that, since nothing is having a chance to cool down before the sun bakes us even more. Fortunately this should pass by midweek, even though we will still be more than 20 degrees warmer than normal. I sure didn't sleep well last night, as the temperature in our apartment only fell to 81°F, even with all the fans going. And it's not even July! We laugh about the fact that our summer doesn't usually start until after July 4th, but this year, we have two months ahead of possible heat waves like this to endure.

I know it doesn't seem all that hot to many of you, but remember we don't quite know how to cope with extreme heat in these parts. Hardly anybody has a/c around here. Bellingham is opening cooling centers, and I'll bet the mall will be crowded with people trying to cool off inside. I might even be one of them. Certainly there will be no hikes and outdoor activities of any sort. Yesterday we walked in mostly shaded trees on the Interurban trail, but it was still hotter than I felt comfortable exercising in. I have to remind myself that I am one of those elderly people who just doesn't do well in the heat.

In other news, looking for some lighter fare to raise my spirits, I ordered myself a new Paperwhite Kindle during last week's Amazon prime day sale. Up to now, I've been using my Kindle Fire for reading books online, but I decided to pitch it out and go to a reader that is used for one thing: books. So far, I like it very much. I am actually quite surprised at how long the battery lasts, as I've been using it for hours every day and it's only lost 10% of its battery life. They advertise that you only need to charge it once a week, and it seems to be at least that good. 

I'm reading a new book by an author I've enjoyed for years: Lisa Genova. Her newest book is Every Note Played, a story about a pianist who develops ALS. All of her books cover something like this, since her debut novel Still Alice, which she self-published in 2009. It became a bestseller about a professor who got early-onset Alzheimer's, and she's written many other books since then. I'm enjoying this one as I get accustomed to my new Paperwhite. ALS is a terrible disease; I've known one person who died of it. It's also called Lou Gehrig's Disease, since that what he died of. I've already learned many new facts about the disease, and I'm not even halfway done with the story. If it follows the path of her other books, I'll be sniffling, maybe even crying, before it's all done. But it will hopefully be a good cry.

Everything seems a little off today, since SG is already up out of bed, and we couldn't sleep as long as usual because of the heat. The sun has just come up, and instead of looking forward to the brilliant sunshine, I'm cowering in fear of what the day will bring us. I'll definitely head to the coffee shop as usual, but I'll be drinking iced coffee instead of my usual latte. And I do have to admit that my mind is not working as efficiently as I'm accustomed to, as I keep getting distracted by the warm temperature. I'm doing everything I can to stay hydrated, and even forcing myself to eat, since I have little appetite when it gets so hot. A smoothie would be nice.

I will need to go out to the garden today to water my plot, and to help myself to the quickly ripening raspberries. If I wear a big sun hat and lots of light clothing, I'll be fine for awhile anyway. And I can always get in my car and drive somewhere with the a/c blasting if I just can't stand it any longer. I don't think Bellingham has ever experienced triple digit heat before; I know I am not alone in my suffering.

Just sitting here tapping on the keys has caused me to start sweating. It's already getting hot, and it's not even 6:00am yet. This just seems incongruous: it will be hotter here than in Florida today! And I can't seem to think of much else to talk about, unless I want to talk about what's on the news. Nope, I'll skip that. That is only likely to make me feel worse. I'd like to think of positive stuff to fill my mind with, rather than doom and gloom. Somewhere inside my head there's a safe place that will make me feel better, I just know there is. What do you do when you want to feel better about things? 

I think it's okay (I give myself permission) to cut this post a little short, since I do need to get up and get moving while the weather is still decent. I don't have any tea to finish, no sweet partner next to me (he's already up), and no words of comfort to offer to my readers, other than what I keep telling myself: this too shall pass.

Dear friends, I hope when we talk again next week that things will be looking up. It's inevitable! Until then, I hope you will give your loved ones a big hug and remind them that life is good. And in the immortal words of Yogi Berra, I leave you with this:

It ain't the heat, it's the humility. —Yogi Berra