We broke the all-time high temperature reading for this date. The official high was 104 degrees, and I really think it was hotter than that in my backyard this afternoon. I know the temperature reading recorded by my car was closer to 110 when I drove it a bit this afternoon.
The heat lays on you like an electric blanket you can't turn off.
It blows on you as if all the grills in the neighborhood were burning full-force at the edge of your yard, just in front of a giant fan.
Plants in flower pots in my yard wilt, even though the soil is moist because they've been well watered.
It's oppressive to be outside. Do anything--carry vegetable clippings to the compost bin, move the hose from one thirsty tree to another, sweep spilled potting soil out of the garage--and you come inside sweating.
They say we're getting relief tomorrow, highs in the 90s and highs in the 80s next week. We'll take it.
BUT, I am NOT complaining!
I've always felt that it's bad form to complain about the weather. Especially when you have the luxury of air conditioning (or heat in the winter, or a dry ceiling in the rainy spring), and water for your plants--your plants!--and a clean shower whenever you want one.
A friend, Christy Clayton, who has served several stints in Haiti, wrote on Facebook that she was watching some children play in a water fountain on a hot day in Indianapolis. And she mused on the fact that she had encountered so many dozens, hundreds, of people who had to carry all the water they use, and they live in sweltering temperatures year-round, and the only cooler place they can find is a patch of shade that may not have any breeze. And of course they don't know about air conditioning.
More of the world lives that way than as I live in the luxury of my comfortable house. So I'm not complaining about the weather.
But . . . I'll still be happy when my flowers don't wilt just because they can't stand up to the oven-like heat that has been beating down every afternoon for too many days.
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