Happy Friday?

[hummingwolf]

Still here! Lately I have often not been feeling energetic enough to sit at the computer or thinking clearly enough to write anything, though I thought that might be improving recently as I had started getting better about going to bed early. But then

...RECORD MAXIMUM TEMPERATURE AND RECORD HIGH MINIMUM TEMPERATURE
SET AT WASHINGTON NATIONAL DC...

A RECORD MAXIMUM TEMPERATURE OF 102 DEGREES WAS TIED AT WASHINGTON
NATIONAL DC YESTERDAY. THIS TIES THE OLD RECORD OF 102 SET IN 1874.
THE HIGH TEMPERATURE OF 102 DEGREES ALSO TIED THE RECORD FOR THE
WARMEST TEMPERATURE IN JUNE AND FOR THE EARLIEST OCCURRENCE OF 102
DEGREES OR HIGHER IN A CALENDAR YEAR.

A RECORD HIGH MINIMUM TEMPERATURE OF 79 DEGREES WAS ALSO SET AT
WASHINGTON NATIONAL DC YESTERDAY...BREAKING THE OLD RECORD OF 77
DEGREES SET IN 2008.

Ahem. Sorry, the ALL-CAPS message comes from weather.gov, though I tend to think that the fact that so many records were broken or tied justifies the caps. Never fear: while I still haven't gotten my window unit air-conditioner installed in my room for the summer, I did have sense enough to get myself to a public library branch for a few hours of coolness yesterday. And then, well, I was less sensible and walked next to a busy highway in the oven-like heat till I got to my favorite farmer's market, where I came to my senses enough to go directly to the jug of free ice water and drink three cups before doing anything else.

After rehydrating a bit, I went to buy two boxes of the blueberries that were calling my name. And then I went to visit with a couple of vendors, one of whom immediately bought me some cold lemonade and told me to sit down in the shade. Heh. It's good to know there are people looking out for me! So I spent the hottest part of the day hanging out in a parking lot, listening and talking and refilling my cup with water a few more times. I came home after sunset, when the wind was picking up and the temperature was noticeably cooler (though not, I must say, cool), and I enjoyed a cool dinner of fresh salad with blueberries for dessert. Somehow I even managed to sleep.

My regularly-scheduled migraine started yesterday evening, but I'm happy to say it hasn't hit me too hard yet. Dare I hope that this will be a relatively mild one? Maybe eating lots & lots of blueberries will help?

~~~

There was some light thunderstorm activity last night, but not enough to keep the ground from being anything but dry. I'm tired of breathing dust. Tonight as I was trying to read in bed, I was distracted by the smell of smoke, which eventually got my attention enough for me to go around looking for anything that might be burning. Thinking of the fires we had in the area back in February, I looked outside... and you know what? Fireflies look too damn much like sparks for my comfort. Anyway, after walking around the block wondering where the smoke was coming from, I came home as clueless as I'd been when I left. Fortunately for the neighborhood, the smoke's dissipated enough by now to make breathing easier. I'd still feel better if I had a good idea where it came from.

~~~

In other news, my AM/FM/Longwave/Shortwave radio has decided to start working again. Somehow I had forgotten just how silly the censored version of NIN's "Closer" sounds.

~~~

Thanks to mild migraine + heat, I have no idea how coherent this entry is. This must be bedtime, but I'm not ready for it at all.

Comments

[gurdonark.livejournal.com]

I love shortwaves on dark nights when i can listen to radio australia and imagine cool weather

[hummingwolf.livejournal.com]

That is an excellent idea.

[daisydumont.livejournal.com]

how nice of those vendors to tend to you! that was a killer day. hope we don't have any more records broken this summer.

can't say i remember what the censored version is like. it'd sound like swiss cheese, i bet, with all the holes in the vocal line.

[hummingwolf.livejournal.com]

Yes it was! And yes, it was. At this point I wouldn't mind if we set a few records for coolest days in June. Well, nothing so cold that it would damage the summer fruit, but surely a day or two in the sixties wouldn't be so bad?

Swiss cheese chorus, basically. Not as entertaining as all the ways the various radio stations tried censoring "masturbating" out of Prince's "Darling Nikki" back when that was a hit.

[nellorat.livejournal.com]

Sympathies about the migraine and the heat, but the rest sounds quite wonderful.

Could the smoke have been from coals for a BBQ? That's a very common smell around here, and we don't always get the cooking-meat part, just the burning-wood part. Usually, but not always.

[hummingwolf.livejournal.com]

Thank you. Yes, the farmer's market was wonderful, in spite of the heat. :-)

The smoke could have been coming from a barbecue or bonfire somewhere in the neighborhood. It was a much thicker haze than I'm used to, which could possibly be explained by the hot, humid, still air holding the smoke in place. If we'd had more rain recently, I would have been much less nervous!

[bluegreen17]

glad to know there are friendly folks out there helping you get through a record breaking hot day. seems to be 'global warming' as a term should never have been used...it's 'climate change' what with extreme weather everywhere...in all seasons.

i live in southern new hampshire and a couple of years ago the sky from wildfires in canada blew down here. i don't know if i remember this correctly,but i'm pretty sure we could smell it too.

[hummingwolf.livejournal.com]

Yes! The friendly folks at the market really made my week. As for climate change, one of the farmers kept asking, "When did we all get moved to Arizona? And how can I get back to Maryland?!" Lower temperatures and more rain would be good things.

[hai-kah-uhk.livejournal.com]

Wow. I had no idea there were heat waves going on. It's been a consistent 65-75 (with cold nights) here. I think it went all the way up to 87 once.

Stay cool! And if you ever need a vacation, I know it's a long trip and not cheap, but we have a futon.

[hummingwolf.livejournal.com]

Yeah, it's been hot here for a while. There should be a cool front coming through, though, which should give us high temperatures that are merely average (low 80s) rather than way above average.

I'll keep your invitation in mind. :-)

[pnksaph.livejournal.com]

I only stop by LJ once every few months now. I don't know why, when I'm here it feels so good to be able to read about how people are doing.
I like reading about your trip to the Farmer's Market. So nice to get fresh fruit and visit with the vendors.
I hope you can get a bit of a break from the heat. I know your area will stay warm for the summer, but little spurts of coolness, now and again, would be ever so appreciated.

[hummingwolf.livejournal.com]

It's good to see you here! The weather will get warm again soon enough, but it's been nice to have a few cooler days this week.

Going to the farmer's market is the highlight of most of my weeks. I've been to two markets this week, so it's been especially good. :-)

[endlessrarities.livejournal.com]

Latest thing from my dentist friend (who's married to a science geek) is that we're heading for a mini-Ice Age. Judging from the kind of weather we're having just now, I wouldn't be at all surprised. I think we've had a week of sunny weather this spring/summer - the rest of the time's been dull, grey, damp, clammy, 'orrible.

Whatever's happening is all to the fact that the Jetstream's all over the place, which is worrying. If the ocean current's go screwy and we lose the gulf stream, then the west of Scotland's going to be in an awful state.

It's an awfully big and complex system out there, and it doesn't really care about human beings. And I really don't think we have a scooby about what it's capable of. Be afraid, be very afraid...

But on the bright side, we may have lousy weather, but we don't get your thunderstorms!

[hummingwolf.livejournal.com]

The mini-Ice Age idea is apparently overblown. The idea has something to do with the sunspot cycle--people think that the sun's activity levels might make the Earth's global temperature drop by a fraction of a degree. Unfortunately, that fraction of a degree doesn't look like nearly enough to counteract the several degrees that the globe is expected to warm in the same time period. The weather is certainly very interesting these days, anyway!

But on the bright side, we may have lousy weather, but we don't get your thunderstorms!

I actually love thunderstorms. :-) It probably helps that the ones we get in this area are rarely very severe. Mostly we get rain with a pretty sound & light show.