Thursday, July 12, 2007
Hot Hot Hot
The Seattle area does not normally get hot very many days out of the year. The highest temperature ever recorded is 100 and the lowest is 0 according to my son. Yesterday, it was over 90 at our house and our house was 88 inside. To us, this is sweltering. My window routine of strategically closing blinds and opening windows as the sun moves from one side of our house to the other (we face south) didn't seem to work. The breezes were not coming off the 55 degree water. We pulled out two fans. One belongs to our son. We had the other one in our bedroom until our daughter returned from her job at the Italian restaurant in Seattle with no AC. She convinced us--well, I gave in---that she was worse off than we were because she had spent the last eight hours in front of a wood fired pizza oven. Her own personal fan is in storage in Walla Walla. At the time we picked her up last May, it seemed like such a reasonable idea to leave the fan in hot Eastern Washington when we were desperate for room in the car.
I didn't feel well last night. I know I do not drink enough liquids except for coffee and it gets me into trouble on days like this. I have to remind myself and force myself to drink water because for some reason, my body rarely tells me it is thirsty. Also, I do not sweat very much--never have. I worry more about my dog's water intake than mine. I could not get comfortable last night. Lucas went outside at 8 PM in his swim suit and sprayed himself with the hose. Finally, my third glass of ice water and a slight breeze made me feel like I could stand up again.
And poor Apolo. I took him for a walk yesterday morning but it was already too hot for him. He stopped in a cool shady place, sat down, and put his paw up and over his leash. Whenever he does that it means, "Sorry, but I am not going one step further, Mom. So what are you going to do about it, huh?" All day he just kept looking at me and asking me to turn down the heat with his big golden eyes. He was confused. I fed him ice cubes.
Of course, it was Lucas and Dave's fault that he was confused. On Monday, they went on a day hike near Mount Baker (see orca picture below which is Mt. Baker,too). Half of the hike was in snow and Apolo had the time of his life rolling and running in the white stuff. The lake they hiked to still had ice and it had chunks of ice floating. Apolo tried with great surprise to retrieve the chunks of ice and he managed to swim to shore with a mouthful of ice after smashing a piece.
So yesterday was just too much. For him and for me.
taken by Lucas, July 9, 2007, Dave and Apolo near Mt. Baker
Mt. Baker, our north Sound volcano, taken by Lucas, July 9, 2007
Black bear butt running away from the car on the logging road leaving the trail head.
7/9/07
One may wonder why I did not go on the hike with my husband and son. Kaley had a day off and she does not hike, period. Since Seattle is the third hottest tourist destination this summer, we decided to play tourist and we went downtown. Kaley and I had a lovely lunch at the Pink Door where we dined on the terrace overlooking the Seattle waterfront. We followed our lunch with a stroll through the market to find ingredients for homemade meatless European-style pizzas. She wanted to try out her skills learned at her job on us. We found pizza dough, sauce and yummy things to put on top like local morel mushrooms and herbs. The pizzas were fabulous.
I must give kudos to my husband. For years, he has worked, worked and traveled, traveled. I admit he was not free of my criticism for his absence at times as a father. It was difficult for us periodically. But this summer, he is trying to take Mondays off to spend with his children without any hint or suggestion from me. Never is it too late, although Lucas wondered if he was dying or something.
No, he just realizes, finally, the kids will not be at home forever.
The Seattle area does not normally get hot very many days out of the year. The highest temperature ever recorded is 100 and the lowest is 0 according to my son. Yesterday, it was over 90 at our house and our house was 88 inside. To us, this is sweltering. My window routine of strategically closing blinds and opening windows as the sun moves from one side of our house to the other (we face south) didn't seem to work. The breezes were not coming off the 55 degree water. We pulled out two fans. One belongs to our son. We had the other one in our bedroom until our daughter returned from her job at the Italian restaurant in Seattle with no AC. She convinced us--well, I gave in---that she was worse off than we were because she had spent the last eight hours in front of a wood fired pizza oven. Her own personal fan is in storage in Walla Walla. At the time we picked her up last May, it seemed like such a reasonable idea to leave the fan in hot Eastern Washington when we were desperate for room in the car.
I didn't feel well last night. I know I do not drink enough liquids except for coffee and it gets me into trouble on days like this. I have to remind myself and force myself to drink water because for some reason, my body rarely tells me it is thirsty. Also, I do not sweat very much--never have. I worry more about my dog's water intake than mine. I could not get comfortable last night. Lucas went outside at 8 PM in his swim suit and sprayed himself with the hose. Finally, my third glass of ice water and a slight breeze made me feel like I could stand up again.
And poor Apolo. I took him for a walk yesterday morning but it was already too hot for him. He stopped in a cool shady place, sat down, and put his paw up and over his leash. Whenever he does that it means, "Sorry, but I am not going one step further, Mom. So what are you going to do about it, huh?" All day he just kept looking at me and asking me to turn down the heat with his big golden eyes. He was confused. I fed him ice cubes.
Of course, it was Lucas and Dave's fault that he was confused. On Monday, they went on a day hike near Mount Baker (see orca picture below which is Mt. Baker,too). Half of the hike was in snow and Apolo had the time of his life rolling and running in the white stuff. The lake they hiked to still had ice and it had chunks of ice floating. Apolo tried with great surprise to retrieve the chunks of ice and he managed to swim to shore with a mouthful of ice after smashing a piece.
So yesterday was just too much. For him and for me.
taken by Lucas, July 9, 2007, Dave and Apolo near Mt. Baker
Mt. Baker, our north Sound volcano, taken by Lucas, July 9, 2007
Black bear butt running away from the car on the logging road leaving the trail head.
7/9/07
One may wonder why I did not go on the hike with my husband and son. Kaley had a day off and she does not hike, period. Since Seattle is the third hottest tourist destination this summer, we decided to play tourist and we went downtown. Kaley and I had a lovely lunch at the Pink Door where we dined on the terrace overlooking the Seattle waterfront. We followed our lunch with a stroll through the market to find ingredients for homemade meatless European-style pizzas. She wanted to try out her skills learned at her job on us. We found pizza dough, sauce and yummy things to put on top like local morel mushrooms and herbs. The pizzas were fabulous.
I must give kudos to my husband. For years, he has worked, worked and traveled, traveled. I admit he was not free of my criticism for his absence at times as a father. It was difficult for us periodically. But this summer, he is trying to take Mondays off to spend with his children without any hint or suggestion from me. Never is it too late, although Lucas wondered if he was dying or something.
No, he just realizes, finally, the kids will not be at home forever.
// posted by Janet @ 8:39 AM
3 Comments:
Our house normally stays pretty cool but yesterday there was no way to keep it cool. Everyone I talked to today said that they had trouble sleeping because of the heat. On the other hand, it's nice that summer finally decided to grace us with its arrival!
Oh Janet -- we have the traveling husband thing in common. Mine realized early-on how fleeting those days would be, and made a point to always get home, at the very least over weekends -- and when we were on vacation he tried to be fully *there*. Well, of course there was that one time when we had to stop the water ski boat in the middle of the lake so he could take a call to negotiate a contract with an East Coast lawyer. But hey, that's a family legend now, so all good :-) Kudos galore to your man for making this time matter -- and to you too for choosing that girl bonding over joining the hikers. You have two very wonderful young people in your family -- I'm entirely certain that's the result of some mighty fine parenting!
By 
, at
11:49 AM
Lucas, I love your pictures! Grandma
By , at
3:26 PM
Links
ARCHIVES
- 12/01/2003 - 01/01/2004
- 01/01/2004 - 02/01/2004
- 02/01/2004 - 03/01/2004
- 03/01/2004 - 04/01/2004
- 04/01/2004 - 05/01/2004
- 05/01/2004 - 06/01/2004
- 06/01/2004 - 07/01/2004
- 07/01/2004 - 08/01/2004
- 08/01/2004 - 09/01/2004
- 09/01/2004 - 10/01/2004
- 10/01/2004 - 11/01/2004
- 11/01/2004 - 12/01/2004
- 12/01/2004 - 01/01/2005
- 01/01/2005 - 02/01/2005
- 02/01/2005 - 03/01/2005
- 03/01/2005 - 04/01/2005
- 04/01/2005 - 05/01/2005
- 05/01/2005 - 06/01/2005
- 06/01/2005 - 07/01/2005
- 07/01/2005 - 08/01/2005
- 08/01/2005 - 09/01/2005
- 09/01/2005 - 10/01/2005
- 10/01/2005 - 11/01/2005
- 11/01/2005 - 12/01/2005
- 12/01/2005 - 01/01/2006
- 01/01/2006 - 02/01/2006
- 02/01/2006 - 03/01/2006
- 03/01/2006 - 04/01/2006
- 04/01/2006 - 05/01/2006
- 05/01/2006 - 06/01/2006
- 06/01/2006 - 07/01/2006
- 07/01/2006 - 08/01/2006
- 08/01/2006 - 09/01/2006
- 09/01/2006 - 10/01/2006
- 10/01/2006 - 11/01/2006
- 11/01/2006 - 12/01/2006
- 12/01/2006 - 01/01/2007
- 01/01/2007 - 02/01/2007
- 02/01/2007 - 03/01/2007
- 03/01/2007 - 04/01/2007
- 04/01/2007 - 05/01/2007
- 05/01/2007 - 06/01/2007
- 06/01/2007 - 07/01/2007
- 07/01/2007 - 08/01/2007
- 08/01/2007 - 09/01/2007
- 09/01/2007 - 10/01/2007
- 10/01/2007 - 11/01/2007
- 11/01/2007 - 12/01/2007
- 12/01/2007 - 01/01/2008
- 01/01/2008 - 02/01/2008
- 02/01/2008 - 03/01/2008
- 03/01/2008 - 04/01/2008
- 04/01/2008 - 05/01/2008
- 05/01/2008 - 06/01/2008
- 06/01/2008 - 07/01/2008
- 07/01/2008 - 08/01/2008
- 08/01/2008 - 09/01/2008
- 09/01/2008 - 10/01/2008
- 10/01/2008 - 11/01/2008
- 11/01/2008 - 12/01/2008
- 12/01/2008 - 01/01/2009
- 01/01/2009 - 02/01/2009
- 02/01/2009 - 03/01/2009
- 03/01/2009 - 04/01/2009
- 05/01/2009 - 06/01/2009
- 06/01/2009 - 07/01/2009
- 07/01/2009 - 08/01/2009
- 08/01/2009 - 09/01/2009
- 09/01/2013 - 10/01/2013
- 10/01/2013 - 11/01/2013
- 12/01/2020 - 01/01/2021