June 29, 2015 Heat, Fire & Rain

Jesse and his pal, Buster.

My planter of beautiful bloms.

Friday 6/26. I started reading a Pat Conroy book today, South of Broad. I really enjoy his writing, but I have to be in the right mood to start one of his books.  This was the perfect day.  He makes me think about and savor every word and every sentence.  Not a book you can - or would want to - rush through.

Blondie had laid an egg already when I fed them this morning.  Smart Girl.  Get it done before the heat sets in.

I baked cookies this morning.  So, in other words, I heated up the house before the sun could.

In the afternoon I sat on the porch for a long while.  It was hotter out there, but at least there was air movement.  But again the breeze disappeared with the sun and there was no relief from the heat that barely cooled with the descending darkness.  Our high for the day was a 88.

Saturday 6/27. It was 78 and partly cloudy with thunder storms in the forecast.  Got all the outside chores done early, then took a cool shower.

JB plans to leave for home tomorrow by 10:00 am.

According to the porch temperature gauge, our high for the day was 93, but the weather station gauge, which started working again this week, read 104!  Either way it was just plain uncomfortable.  Another perfect day to immerse myself in Pat Conroy's Charleston, SC, in South of Broad.  After I made another gallon of humming bird syrup, of course.

Clouds continued to increase all day and by late afternoon the sky was completely overcast.  But by sunset, much of the blue sky had restored itself.  I could feel and smell the moisture in the air.

Called and had a nice chat with Randy.  He is having and disliking the same heat in Idaho.

Sunday 6/28. It was 78 and partly cloudy at 6:30 am when I got up to get everything done before the real heat set in.  By 8:00 am everything was watered; the girls were fed and fresh diatomacious earth sprinkled in their pen where they tend to take dirt baths; the laundry was done and hung outside; the bed sheets were changed.  Then I was ready to feed the dogs, wash the dishes and take a shower.  And possibly a nap. . .

JB arrived home at 2:00 pm after stopping in town for a few groceries.  It had been a very hot drive and there was no relief from the heat when he got Up Here.  Our high for the day was 97!  We unloaded his car and then did as little as possible.  It is a good thing that each piece of chocolate in the box of See's Candy, that his Mom sent over for me, was in its own paper cup or it would have been just one big piece of mixed chocolate.

My Aunt Nene called around 7:00 pm to ask if the fire was close to us.  What fire?  She said it was all over the news and people were being evacuated from their homes.  Elsie called a little later, confirmed the news and told us where it was.  I took a walk to the north ridge and could even see the flames.  Looked to be about four miles to the northwest as the crow flies. 

JB turned on his radio to listen to the police frequency and heard the fire was spreading rapidly.  By 9:00 pm I couldn't keep my eyes open any longer and went to bed.  JB had just got in bed at 10:50 pm when Larry called.  Another unrelated fire had started in the same vicinity and was headed toward some huge propane and ammonia tanks.  Larry and a neighbor were headed out to get a better view.  I couldn't stay in bed with all this news, so we got up and got dressed.  Went out to the north ridge to see what we could see.  It was a scary sight.  We had a good view of both fires, and listened on the radio as more people were being evacuated.

But with the day we both had, we were back in the house by midnight and soon in bed.  There was a wonderful light wind that had started cooling things down.  But we could hear loud booms from Down There as propane tanks and such exploded.  Not a good lullaby.

Monday 6/29. It was a wonderful 66 with light rain when JB got up at 6:30 this morning.  The fires were under control, but the second one was still burning a little. 

I got up at 7:30 am to write my blog and while I was doing so, we had a clap of thunder right over the house.  It brought another short shower.  I can only pray that no one was hurt in the fires.

We are going to cancel our July 4th picnic, as the temperatures are supposed to climb back into the 100's again next weekend.  Looks to be a long, hot summer.

Thought for the day: I firmly believe that nature brings solace in all troubles. Anne Frank