This morning at 10:00 a.m. I checked the temperature in the shade of our deck.
It said 90°(F). That's 90°. In the shade. At ten in the morning.
I don't enjoy heat waves. My comfortable temperature range goes from 25° to 85°. So while I'm cool with cool, hot ain't so hot.
These temperatures are supposed to stay with us all week and will probably continue in the 90's for most of the summer.
How do I cope? We have limited air conditioning in the house. But with a freezer full of meat I can always hug a rump roast if I get too hot.
Today it is expected to reach 102°(F). Just a few miles east in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, they are holding the Ironman competition.
Also, traditionally on this weekend just a few miles west in Spokane, they would be hosting Hoopfest, the world's largest 3-on-3 basketball tournament. Fortunately they postponed it this year due to Flu Manchu and Governor Idiot's Inslee's stupid crowd restrictions.
In a typical year when Ironman is happening to the east and Hoopfest to the west, my anti-social inclination forces me to stay hunkered down and not venture anywhere. With these temperatures, I have another excuse to stay in my cave.
I foresee lots of health emergencies in Coeur d'Alene today. Not only with the competitors, but also with spectators.
On the home front, the dogs have discovered the basement. It stays a cool 65° down there all year long. We have baseboard heaters, but we've never used them. Beorn, our big, hairy Bernese Mountain Dog will stay down there all day if he could. Hudson, the Mastiff pup likes it too, though the heat doesn't bother him as much. He's young.
The neighbor dog has his own unique solution to beat the heat.
Personally, I tend to keep to my office. It's the only room in the house with an air-conditioning unit. It struggles to keep temps in the high 70's on these really hot days.
That's the situation here. What's it like in your neck of the woods?