Tuesday, July 19, 2011

Hotter than ....

If you want to experience weather, in all of it's extremes, the Upper Midwest is the place to live.   We reserve the right to grumble when the mercury dips to -30 F in the dead of winter, but honestly, I prefer that to 95 degrees above with a dewpoint of 81.   Which is what we have now.   One step outside and you might as well be in a sauna.   Step back inside and your glasses fog up like you've just been dropped into a cloud.   I try not the run the AC more than I have to, but I've broken down this week.  

The girls aren't great fans of the heat either.   They were pretty lethargic all day Saturday, so Sunday afternoon I took them to a nearby lake for a little swim between thunderstorms.   Yesterday I got out the little wading pool I picked up at a garage sale for $2 and filled it with cool tap water.   Dee Dee wasn't so sure about it at first, but when I picked her up and set her down in the water, she stood there, relishing the coolness.   They had fun jumping in and out to retrieve the ball and were quite content for the rest of the evening.

Then, in the middle of the night the thunder-boomers came.  BIG thunder-boomers.   Princess was already sleeping between me and the oscillating fan, but Dee Dee prefers the bathroom floor, next to the AC vent.  After a couple of especially loud cracks of thunder, she decided she wanted to be up on the bed too .... and not just ON the bed, but waayyy down under the covers by my feet.   It had to have been pretty warm down there, but at least it was quieter.    We have had a lot of late night storms this summer, and I've grown weary of being awakened by thunder, tornado sirens or Code Red calls, warning of severe weather approaching.   I'm longing for the day when I can sleep with the windows open once again; a cool summer breeze lulling me to sleep.