When I was invited to move to the Southwest, I knew it would be very hot down here. It was the one thing that I dreaded most--the pollution, gangs, crime, huge population, earthquakes, fires, mudslides, and smog notwithstanding. I get really cranky when it's hot outside because I was made for life in Minnesota or the Adirondacks. It was 101 degrees Farenheit today. Nothing could lure me outside, and I stayed in, grateful for air conditioning.
Late this afternoon the gardener came to work in the yard. Using a leaf blower, he blew clouds of dust into the air around the back of the house, clearing long accumulated refuse into one place. A few minutes later, the air coming out of our air vents started getting considerably warmer. Soon it was 82 degrees in the house and we were getting lethargic and very uncomfortable. Of course, the air and refrigeration people are backlogged and we don't know when they'll get to us. So here we sit with fans whirring and the house temperature in the 80s.
It is at times like this that I wonder how the pioneers ever survived life in the West without the conveniences of modern life. They lived in adobe homes, close to the ground, with large verandas and palm trees planted as close to the homes as possible in order to provide shade. The heat must have been atrocious. All I can think of is how horrible it would have been to be pregnant or be ill in the summer.
Our night air is mercifully cooler than the day, for which we are eternally grateful! We will open up the house tonight, blow out the hot air with fans and then close everything up in the morning--curtains and blinds drawn, fans whirring all day. Perhaps the repairmen can get here in the next couple days. I think we will visit our friends across town tomorrow...
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