The June bugs arrived, right on time. But the heat wave was a little early.
My apologies for being absent from the blog for a few days. I believe my motivation to do anything at all has evaporated as quickly as the perspiration from my skin. We’ve been enduring several days of heat indexes flirting with the 100º mark* — without central air conditioning. I’ve felt like I’m melting.
In the heat of the day, all I want to do is lay around with the blinds drawn. Maybe if I’m feeling spectacularly energetic I’ll read a book or daydream.
Leo demonstrates ideal heat-of-the-day behavior.
The temperatures and heavy humidity are akin to some of the worst days in July or August, and of course I’m disappointed because my glorious June days, the best of the summer for gardening, have been replaced by this monstrous heat wave, 10 days and counting.
Today the high came down a few notches, to within about 10 degrees of the average temperatures for this time of year, and F. and I took advantage of the morning hours to build the final supports for the family heirloom half-runner beans, which are really beginning to run. It was still so muggy out at 10:00 a.m. that my sunglasses fell off when I bent over to pull a weed: the ear pieces slipped off my sweat-slick ears. Gotta love that.
Cross your fingers for the Victory Garden; won’t you? Some things are really struggling in this heat, even with adequate moisture, and the tomatoes have stopped producing flowers, which I’d been warned would happen if we went five days in a row topping 92 degrees. That means there will definitely be a gap in fruit production later on in the summer… which is fine with me as long as it’s not the end of fruit production.
Of course, some crops thrive in the heat, like the aforementioned beans and those stars of the summer garden: okra.
Okra seedlings, early June.
But the best plan for human beings seems to be energy conservation. Me, I’m just riding a wave of lethargy and looking forward to a weekend of family affairs in the Atlanta area, knowing I’ll be spending the night in my sister’s lovely home, staying cool as a cucumber with central air.
I would sound even more excited, but I’m still a little warm from packing the car just now, so I’ll keep it low-key.
Have a wonderful — and hopefully cool — weekend, everybody!
*That’s Fahrenheit, obviously. It’s about 38º C.
PDF 
My sister in Virginia hates air conditioning and so I don’t visit her that often.
I have an affinity for the A/C, but I do love having the windows open. However, here in the south we went from winter to summer. I haven’t even had any back porch time – too humid for Sunday morning breakfast out there even.
So I feel your pain. It was 102 degrees in my car one day this week – it sits on sizzling asphalt all day. No this couldn’t be good for plants, but hopefully they will weather it through. Have a lovely weekend in the ATL, my friend.
Lynn´s last blog ..Poppies, just plain delicious and lingering
I’ve learned to appreciate central air more than ever during my time without it. Now the sound of it clicking on at friends’ or relatives’ homes is sweet music to my ears.
I, too, enjoy having the windows open and sitting on the back porch. We’ll just have to hope we get the opportunity in the autumn; you’re right that normal spring seems to have bypassed us. Thanks for the good wishes, Lynn. It was a fun, albeit short, trip!
Sounds like our summers, without the humidity. Perth has horrible dry heat that sucks the life out of you. Give me humidity any day!
Merrilee´s last blog ..Saturday prompts
Merrilee, I’ve never really experienced a truly dry climate, as more than a tourist. But you do make it sound unpleasant.
I do know that for someone raised in this heavy humidity, dry heat is dangerous. We don’t *feel* hot in those circumstances… because we’re not sweating and the air doesn’t press on the skin! There’s no psychological trigger that hey, the body really is getting hot. I experienced this hiking in the Arizona desert once and was quite ill from the effects. My mom nearly had to be hospitalized in Nevada once because she just kept blithely on, walking around in 105-degree heat, unaware that she was getting seriously dehydrated.
I agree, Leo has the right idea. We have the heat here occasionally, although thankfully not the humidity! That sucks the life right out of me. I hope the Victory Garden pulls through the heatwave unscathed, and that you enjoy a nice cool weekend!
Curbstone Valley Farm´s last blog ..The Chicken Run
Leo is a Zen master, and I do try to pay attention to his wisdom.
Thank you for the good wishes for me and for the garden. We both appreciate them, Clare!
The cats always get it right, don’t they? Ugh…38°C is simply gross. It reached 30°C here in my part of Nova Scotia today, but is absolutely spectacular this evening with much cooler air and a wonderful breeze. Another hot one on the way tomorrow. Enjoy the central AC!
Nancy Bond´s last blog ..June in Bloom
Nancy, when my husband read your comment aloud to me in the car on the way home, he said he agrees totally: 38 C *is* “simply gross.” He would be happy to move up to Nova Scotia tomorrow if the circumstances worked out (i.e. job, job, job).
We both enjoyed the lovely central air over our weekend.
The desert is very hot and dry. Even though it was 108 today, we were cool inside.
Anything done outside must be early.
Yes I did like your sweat slick ears.
gemma´s last blog ..Illustration Friday 
I’m so glad you stayed indoors, Gemma! 108 sounds like it would melt your brain.
I see your smiley has still held onto her sunglasses. Her ears must have stayed cool and dry inside, too.
Hello Meredith, I’ll be thinking of you and wishing for some cooling breezes for your tomatoes (and for Leo!) A long stretch of those sorts of temps is no fun at all – luckily we usually get dry heat where I am. While it’s still pretty hard to take, it is not as awful as heat and high humidity together!
This is probably not the moment to mention that it is a comfortable mild winter day here right now is it?
Heidi (GippyGardener)´s last blog ..My Garden Bouquet (MGB) for June – Winter White
Thank you so much for those breezy wishes, Heidi. (Leo thanks you, too, with a hearty purr.) I’m really not sure I’d like dry heat, either. At least I’m familiar with this kind; you know?
Be careful mentioning perfect winter days — around F. especially.
I’m so glad you’re getting a heat reprieve at your sister’s, Meredith. Humidity just makes me limp and lethargic and just plain ugh! so I can totally sympathize.
I love how Leo is color co-ordinated with the quilt! He’s got the right attitude – when the temp soars, the body rests.
Hope you and F. have a fabulous weekend!
Talon´s last blog ..Pinpricks
“Limp and lethargic and just plain ugh!” is a perfect description for how I’ve been feeling lately. I appreciate the sympathy, for sure, Talon.
I’m so glad someone noticed he matches! That was a serendipitous thing, but I wonder if it wasn’t subconscious on my part when I saw it in the store.
Hope you enjoy a cooler time this week end. So far we’re still having spring temperatures and I count myself lucky. I totally wilt in heat these days. I’ve found the only way to garden is early morning or later in the evening. Or try to keep my gardening only in the shaded areas.
Helen at Summer House´s last blog ..Letting the Garden Surprise Us
Thank you, Helen. Early morning is it for me right now, since lately it’s still around 86/30 at sunset. I can’t understand how it can be so hot when it’s dark outside, but it’s a weird weather spell.
You are lucky to have those sweet spring temps! Enjoy them while you still can.
Dear Meredith, I am so very sorry that you are struggling with such unseasonably high temperatures and, at the same time, having to watch your garden suffer. It is to be hoped that cooler weather is on the way for you and that you will then feel more like going, and be able to go, outside. A lovely image of Leo. He appears to be unaffected or, at least, has the right idea about coping.
Edith Hope´s last blog ..A Tale of Two Women
Thank you for the sympathy, Edith. You are very kind! We’ll cross our fingers for cooler weather and in the meantime I’ll lay low in the house and take catnaps with Leo.
Man, sounds like the summers we have here in Oz! You know something’s terribly WRONG when your clothes stick to your body like a second skin, right? It sometimes gets so bad that the mere act of existing causes your sweat pores to break out like you’re a walking Niagra Falls! Bleh!
LOL, Tony! I know that scenario oh so well. I made the mistake of wearing winter-weight jeans about a week ago, thinking we’d be indoors for the most part, and everyone ended up taking an impromptu hike outdoors (lovely evening, at least visually), and my jeans were clinging to me from thigh to ankle by the end.
“Bleh!” is a pretty good description of the feeling.
We had pushing 40C in the summer. But, I am very grateful we don’t have to deal with high humidity. No air con, but a house designed and built as best we can against summer heat and winter cold. Now the garden is delighted and delightful, green and lush, and full of flowers everywhere I look!
Diana, weirdly enough our old-fashioned houses are designed correctly for this heat. My grandparents’ farmhouse, over 100 years old, was built with super high ceilings, cool wood floors, wonderful air circulation when all of the windows were open. Three specific rooms were designed with the heat in mind: a deep, well-shaded, stone porch, a summer kitchen (at the far back of the house, slightly separated, and even then a lot of the meat got cooked out in the barbeque pit in the field), and a bedroom for the eldest among us, equipped with a wraparound screen window that allowed all the breezes easy access.
Modern houses assume constant supplies of electricity, central air, and the money to pay for the huge electric bill to cover it every month. (This is why I dream of having an old Southern farmhouse.
)
Clearly, you built your house the smart way!
The heats not bad but the humidity’s high
So sweat does run and ones never dry
One little room I pack myself in
So my AC bill won’t break me then
Take it easy in all that heat
If you get over heat F you might beat
Have a cool AC weekend
desk49/Ellis Moore´s last blog ..My Soul
I really understand about the AC bill, Ellis, believe me! Sweat does run in the humidity, for sure. Thanks for all the kind wishes.
Oh, way too hot! I remember I used to sit with my feet in a bucket of cold water on days like that, and also wet my hair. Seemed as if as long as feet and head were cold, it was quite bearable.
I got my feet wet a little while ago, and then propped them in front of the fan.
Great minds think alike, maybe?
Oof…that’s how it’s been here, too–even hotter than normal for this time of year. My tomato plants look terrible, but there are a few tomatoes hanging on here and there that I hope will be able to ripen before the plants die completely. Hope yours spring back into action if your weather goes back to its usual temps. (Hope your trip was fun–and cool. I can’t imagine living in the South without air conditioning!)
Kathy´s last blog .."See the Bullet Hole"–The Birth and Death of an Outlaw
I do hope your plants recover, Kathy — or at least ripen what they’ve got. I just pulled a bunch of green tomatoes off today, hoping to give the plants extra energy and resources to survive the heavy punches coming over and over and over again. Thanks for the good wishes for our plants, as well!
We do have a window unit… but it doesn’t cool the whole house. You can run it all day and then one room is freezing and everywhere else is horribly stuffy and hot. However, on this trip, F. just surprised me with a brand new baby window AC unit for the bedroom, and installed it already, thus elevating his status to Hero with a capital “H”.
I’m jealous of your heat! It’s so damn cold here at night we need the central heating on. I’m already dreaming of my next trip to the States just to get warm for a bit!
LL Cool Joe´s last blog ..There goes the neighbourhood!
Joe, I guess that just goes to prove it’s all relative.
Hope you’re able to find a comfy blanket to cuddle under tonight!