Fun in the heat

It is warmer this morning than yesterday.

Yesterday, the town closed off downtown streets and had one heck of a good party, with several fun spots involving water, lots of vendors selling everything from snow cones to pretty good beef jerky (Texas, you know) One of the banks was selling $5 hamburgers with proceeds to go to the firefighters, police and library. There was the shoot out with blanks, of course. A good, sweaty street dance.

And armadillo races. I really wanted to see those. Those critters can RUN!

So far as I know, no heat prostration, and I do know it was a completely civil day. No arrests at all.Several thousand people. Not bad.

So, another hot day. Really, REALLY getting tired of 'em. This next week we stand fair to tie the 1980 record of 42 consecutive days of triple digit heat.

There are actually some sportin' people who are rooting for it.

My opinion shall go unvoiced.

And the Heat Goes On....

It only reached 105 yesterday. Blessed relief.

No rolling blackouts yet.

A young man called a local radio station and laughed at us Texas weenies. He said he was just back from Afghanistan, and it was reaching 135 there (and I presume, no air conditioning). So humans CAN survive higher heat. We just don't want to.

Just as extreme cold can cause streets to buckle and push up, so can extreme heat. Hope my street doesn't--it was paved about 6 months ago and is wonderfully smooth. Our new light rail system just opened to my part of the Metroplex is running at 45 mph instead of the usual 60 because of concerns about warping rails.

Water is the other consideration. The severe drought conditions virtually destroyed Texas produce this year, at a loss of billions. Most of our fresh produce is coming from miles away (except, as I said, for the okra and black-eyed peas.)

Will the rains come? We don't know.

About a quarter of the area water supply is unavailable because zebra mussels invaded Lake Texoma and they aren't releasing that water downstream. Fort Worth sells its treated but not potable water to surrounding cities to use for irrigation. I know a few families who have set up the gutters and tanks to collect the rainwater for watering. I bet we see more of that.

And you folks thinking about moving to Texas? Stay home. The steady flood of people into the state makes the politicians happy. It also means less water to go around. It is hot and messy down here, and the legislature stripped our schools of so much money this year it is a wonder our upcoming kids will even be literate. Stay home.

At least another week of this high heat to go. I think I have my second wind now.

We usually get a good rain sometime between Aug. 20 and Sept. 10.

Hope we do this year.

Survival means hibernation after 2 p.m.

I guess I am journaling at present.It's 9:10, DST,and the temperature is starting to climb. Another couple of hours and it will be over 100 again.

We will find out if today is when the rolling blackouts start. A big stick, indeed, to get the population's attention, but a healthy proportion of Texans are stubbornly going to cling to 72 degree thermostats no matter what. I'm wondering if I need a battery operated lantern. What bothers me most is that with no power--no fans, either. During the cold, they were publicizing 10-15-minute cutoffs, but I had one that lasted two hours. My house is not well insulated. How fast will it warm up?

Last night at 9 it was 102. I assume I am meeting criteria--my thermostat is set on 73-74, but in the afternoons and evenings, only cools to 78 or 79. This with 16 additional inches of insulation. I'm using all appliances in the morning, and yesterday even shut down the computer. The plug to the TV is behind a bookcase I can't reach or I would pull that, too. I understand DVRs pull current even when off.

Until this week, I've gone about my business, pretty much, but now I guess I'm into heat fatigue. I'm watering my volunteer St. Augustine in the back, and it has greened considerably. I've started watering the privet hedge in front weekly when I noticed the leaves on top were turning brown. They may be just scorching, but I don't want to lose this hedge. Last summer, I didn't water it even once.

The bit of green in the back feeds my soul. I've put a pan of water out for the birds and more birdseed, which I see the fire ants are prowling through. I'm seeing more birds and butterflies, even a big old toad hopping along this morning.

Gracie goes in for more shots today, then to PetSmart while I get a new leash and her doggie toothpaste. Last night, I imagined I would have to cancel--couldn't bear the thought of being out in the afternoon heat, even in an air-conditioned car I would park mere feet from airconditioned buildings.. Today, well, is a new day. So we will go.

I not only cooked chicken this morning, I've boiled some squash to go with. I figure if all I have to do is spoon it onto a plate and microwave it, I may eat this evening.

Either that, or I'll eat it for breakfast.

Think that was hot? Try hotter!

And the heat goes on and on and on.

We had 110 yesterday, with a bit of humidity. Hard to breathe air that warm.
This morning, at 6 am it must have been about 86.

Today's paper sums it up for the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex:

so far, 40 days reaching 100 degrees or more.
Typical summers have 16 days.
For instance, we usually have 6 days in July over 100. This year we had 30 days.
Did I say yesterday reached 110? Today is predicted to reach 112.
By the end of next week, we will have surpassed the record year in 1980, with higher temps.

Statistically, the heat starts subsiding between Aug 12 and Aug.20. We'll see.
If you like beef, think ahead. It's going to be cheaper this fall as ranchers who can't afford hay and hauled water now are selling off the beef they ordinarily would keep to breed next year's beef.

Next year? Yeah, baby. That steak is gonna cost ya.

As usual in high heat, the trees are shedding about one-third of their leaves. The lake water has gotten so warm, we've had several large fish die-offs due to suffocation. Wild animals and reptiles are slithering into the cities in search of water. Even snakes need a little water now and then.

Here, we had one rain in June. Before that, mid-May. We need rain. I just dread the humid heat the day after.

Today, they are beginning to discuss possible rolling blackouts. I don't understand why retail facilities aren't required to raise their temperatures, but we residents are being asked to use as few appliances as possible between 4-7 pm, the peak heat hours. It makes sense, but folks don't seem to be hearing the message much.

Yesterday I washed and dried a load of clothes before 10 and baked a meat loaf. As a matter of fact, I find I slow way down in the afternoons. Others tell me the same.

Gracie, my brilliant puppy, seems to have most of potty-training down. It's that visit outside at noon or early afternoon when we have problems. Sun directly overhead. Temperature already 100. She gives me this "are you nuts?" look, and sometimes she listlessly walks over to a patch of grass and squats. More often, she just sits, panting, looking at me now and then as I get hotter and sweatier. Usually doesn't take more than 5 minutes. Then we go inside to the cool.

I could get all hot and bothered about 'what if' the rolling blackouts start, but I'm hot enough, thank you. If it happens, we'll deal. Meanwhile, I have discovered a new survival tool called Blue Bunny Double Raspberry Frozen Yogurt. AHHHH.

Sweat Time, Living in the City

"Summertime, and the living is easy...."

I hear some dissenting harumphs to this, including my own. Mother used to sing that to me as a lullaby. I remember no air-conditioning in New Mexico. The advantage there is, most always, the evenings are cool. They give relief. Mother had this really light-weight bedspread that went on my bed in late May, and that helped, too.

I could wear shorts and a shirt. I had swimming lessons in the town unheated pool at 9 in the mornings when it was really cold and I learned to swim to keep from freezing to death....

But business did slow down in the summers. There was always a pitcher of sun-tea around, and some mint sprigs to go with. The temperatures rarely topped 100, as I recall, which was good.

I remember a summer trip to Dallas with my father,mother and grandmother across the Texas desert in an un-airconditioned car. We had a big thermos jug of ice water in the car but it didn't help much. It was the 1950s, and my mother and grandmother, despite the heat, had on a slip with their hose and a girdle, else how would they keep their hose up? I remember in the privacy of the car, they pulled their skirts up a bit and knotted those hose under the knees to give them more breathing room. I remember eyeing this and telling myself, never, never,never. There must have been a lot of us in that generation...even now, when I insist at least on crop pants for church on Sunday, I don't wear hose in the summertime.

But always, in New Mexico, nearby are some mountains and cool air. Only 30 minutes away from Alamogordo. Too many days of oppressive heat, and off we would go, for an afternoon respite. I think, from the Metroplex in Texas, I just about need to drive the 600-plus miles to get to those same mountains to get away from the heat here.

This year, add extreme drought all over. Only here, in the Metroplex, did we get just enough rain to be merely near-drought conditions. This year, for most folks, the green beans and squash didn't make--too much high heat came on in June. Despite watering, the tender corn shoots just shriveled in the sun. But the cantaloupe are doing well. Resilient okra and black-eyed peas are going gangbusters. Tomatoes? We can still get some but our own gardens have dried up for the time being. They will come back in September, and with any luck, we will be picking batches of half-green tomatoes to finish on the window sills in late November. That's when we usually get a freeze.

The summer of 1980 is talked about a lot here in the Southwest. Our longest, hottest summer ever in history. And we didn't even have a drought then.

I remember the summer of 1980 vividly. I was in my 30s, worked out regularly, and still that summer seemed it would never end. Heard today that with another week of 100-plus temperatures, an absolute surety, we will have broken that record.

So it is summertime. The living certainly isn't easy. Thanks to Gracie, I'm up before 7 most days, anyway. Get in a little watering while it still is in the
80s. I run the sprinkler and Gracie runs through it like a mad dog, barking her version of a cowboy "Yahoo!" Good to see. Good to laugh.

The heat makes families cruel to one another. Parents kill each other. They leave their children in hot cars. They kill extended family. We have bodies all over the Metroplex. They are the minority, of course. Most kids are having a fine summer, even if they do notice the hot. Most adults seem to be behaving like adults and finding genuine pleasure in what is, for now, a sweaty life.

Note to you folks in Minnesota, the Dakotas, etc., who have also suffered horrendous heat. It is pretty horrible, isn't it? And hard for you to endure because you don't have the resources to deal with high heat. You don't need the resources because it happens so seldom.

Remember this the next cold spell when Texans are sliding over the roads due to inadequate sanding or salt operations. Years ago, when I was working for a Metropolitan paper,I remember a forecast for sleet. One of the reporters was assigned an article on how to handle it. The weather didn't materialize. His editor, an organized and thrifty person, stashed the article. Five years later, it finally ran. Ice at last. The reporter even still worked there.

Summertime, and I guess the living is the same in every season. It is as easy as we let it be.

A Real Grownup Cries Sometimes

I worked for Child Protective Services for 14 years. I saw less abuse than neglect. And neglect kills or injures more than abuse. The nice thing about neglect is that it gives you a little time to remove the kids to better care.

But tonight I am crying, both for a kid found dead now,and a kid I didn't realize was being abused, and she's dead now. Years dead, It's just there are similarities.

Both were about the same age--2. One was a boy. One was a girl. One was with a parent. One was not.

Other than their deaths, and the way they died, perhaps there is little similarity. This boy in the news now was abused over weeks, months. One of the police officers, clearly upset, said it was hard to imagine how you could dehumanize a person enough to inflict the damage he found. This boy was never under public scrutiny.

The real similarity is that two children who could not defend themselves were killed by the very ones who should have protected them. One of these kids was my case, years ago. One is now someone else's. And whether the parents cry or not, we professionals do.

The similarity of both cases, beyond the ages of the victims, was the disbelief of the killers that they had killed. So they called 911. And ultimately were arrested.
I see that. I remember that. And it still hurts. It hurts the current officers and CPS workers, who took the untouched birth child of the killers from them as authorities sort out what they did and if possible, why they did, consistently abuse their cousin's child to death. We always talk about the victim. Have you read
"The Boy Called It"? I keep wondering what damage it does to the kids not abused or killed to see it happen.

The kid I remember is a pretty little girl with brown curls and a pretty dress who said little when I visited her. I had too many cases, but I saw this girl. She was unbruised, and height/weight appropriate. I met criteria. Cold, that, when the child is dead.

The mother actually called me on the way to the hospital. She said her daughter was not breathing from a reaction to strawberries, and she had strawberry marks all over.
Her daughter was already dead, though neither of us knew it, and the strawberry marks were beatings.

So I kind of understand the 911 call of the folks who brought this boy in. They had been abusing him for months. Why was he dead now?

Yes, I've seen it. It hurts. It hurts. We go on.

You know, caseworkers don't get paid much, especially in Texas. Police officers, more. Attorneys, most. And in the case of this current little boy,whatever the dollars, the pain is the same.

Doing the job means it hurts. And maybe I am not the only one who cries after.

(Addendum, one day later: there was a vigil to honor this abused little boy last night. It was arranged by the EMT who brought the boy's body to the hospital. No, I'm not the only one who cries.)

Cooking To Please

You know your granddaughter REALLY liked your garlic mashed potatoes when she carefully gets the pot out of the refrigerator and reheats a bowl of them for breakfast the next morning.

YESSS!

I cooked from childhood. I was always very good. From 1996 to 2006 I quit cooking.
And I am still trying to get my groove back.

That decade turned out to be seminal for many things cooking-wise. Foods disappeared, changed, became available only in pre-packaged form.

I've gotten much better. And I have gone back to my natural tendency, which, I hear, is a big national thing now (I'm never original) to buy local, in season. and as cheaply as possible. Duh/ It is at its peak. It is delicious. And your point is?

One of my things these days is to find old cookbooks from women's groups in the past 50 years. or longer. I have my mother's 1935 Joanna Circle cookbook from the First UMC of Alamogordo, NM. Stoves then didn't have thermostats. The cookbook also includes my grandmother's hominy chili pie. It requires grinding the round steak and hominy. Hamburger wasn't that available at the time. I've never made the pie. I am sure it is delicious; everything she cooked was. ( tapioca. don't get me started on tapioca.)

A friend of mine just had family visitors from the East Coast. They spent 6 hours at the Fort Worth Zoo. Their children did not require medical assistance. Boy, their hydration is GOOD!

Today, I just stayed in. Grandkids are home. Gracie is really bored.
She is peeing on outings, though. I have leftovers. No need to cook. (Note to single young folks: yes, I have Lean Pockets. Ech!) I have leftover rotisserie chicken, green salad, black-eyed peas with snaps, garlic mash, baked ham, bacon and home-grown tomatoes...not to mention fresh strawberry cake and dark chocolate...

You know, with all this heat, I was feeling a little down. After reading the above, though, life seems right good.

Ya'll hug, gnosh, visit, and chaw, y''all. Comfort is what it is. I enjoy the food channel. I just don't buy into lots of pricy ingredients.