Where Is the Moisture?

       One thing that I have really enjoyed about Oregon is watching the scenery change throughout the day.  For example, clouds will surround the hilltops in the morning and slowly lift before noon.  It’s a clean fog that moistens the air and gives it a freshness – at least six to eight months out of the year.  I haven’t seen it in the summer.

       The air has been quite hazy lately.  My eyes burn or are itchy.  Roland and I have been sneezing.  The air reminds me of the poor air quality in Salt Lake at the beginning stages – except that it is HOT outside and no winter chill.  Smoke.  Lots of smoke.  And the fires are further from us this year than the year we had moved in. 

       The air conditioner had not been working at the library, and so it was announced that the library would close as it was seriously warmer in the building than out.  Someone from city hall saw the note on our door and asked to come look at the A/C.  He got it working and asked to keep open to serve as a cooling station.  Thus we extended our hours.

       We were open from 1 – 9 on Wednesday and 10 – 9 yesterday – those are normal library hours in Salt Lake.  Regular hours were created for the library in Myrtle Creek – but nothing like it is in Salt Lake – though it seems there are more hours now on the volunteer-run.  Jenna and I both put in almost three hours for each day of the heat wave. In addition to books, we offered our patrons a cool place to hang and cold water to drink.

        I am the one who always turns on the a/c or the fan – except for this week.  Don’t ask me why.  It’s been hot, but for some reason I was content with just the fan running in my room.  I was on the computer and Roland asked why I didn’t have the air on, proceeds to turn it on full blast and leaves the room.  What’s up with that?  From where I am sitting, my ears were getting cold.  I put on a hat band. 

       Roland’s office lacks A/C.  Not only is it too hot to open a window, but the air is hard to breathe.  If he had had the fan going sending air from my room to his, I’d understand.  But he closed the door.  I turned the A/C down.

       While we slept, I controlled the air.  He was bundled beneath the covers.  I had the air off this morning.  He turned it back on.

       The pool has been high and choppy in the pool.  Monday the turbulence was higher than I had ever seen in a public swimming pool.  Water has been pushing me all over this week – except today.  I couldn’t seem to move in the water more than five feet.  It was weird.

       The pool has water.  The air does not.  Not much in the river beds right now, either.  Bone dry in some places. 

       I was involved in a discussion about this weather.  Three or four of us were complaining until one friend joined the conversation with these words: “I think about our soldiers in the middle east and the heat doesn’t seem so bad.  Grateful for the service.”

       I thanked her for the reminder and the conversation ended.

       I’ve thought about the firefighters, too.  Each time the wind blows and I think that I am grateful for a cool breeze, I often wonder how harmful it is to somebody else.

       I’d like to thank all the soldiers and firefighters who continues to battle and fight a noble cause.

Weather Picture post

April 14th: wind blew so hard and fierce that mountains can't be seen

April 15th.  Taken from my house to street and across the way

April 15th.  My back yard

April 17th.  The field that leads to the school Jenna attends

snow dusted fields but no trace of snow in parking lot.  Notice the sprinklers turned on

laughed when I saw this on Sunny's facebook page with the caption:

This is what your snow looks like when you forget your sprinklers are on.

Sunny took this on April 15th also

April 17th afternoon

April 17th afternoon

new scarf and hat worn 15th and 16th

Riding the Blazing Furnace

I don’t mind the change in the weather.  I welcome the cool air.  Even if it means I need to bundle up or dress in layers.  The thing I don’t like is having bus drivers blare the heat as though it’s his or her sole responsibility of heating the entire universe.

When I lived with my mom and was working downtown, I would get on the bus and start stripping down.  It was a good 30-40 minute ride.  Just before we got to second south, I’d layer up again.  But the distances I have from West Valley to my destination are so much shorter. It seems senseless to strip down.  At the same time it seems I will suffocate if I don’t remove something.

I sit next to the door as often as I can – though the back door doesn’t always open.  I’m getting familiar with which drivers are able to deal with a minimum amonut of heat and which ones have to have the heat cranked up as though Roland is the driver.  I try to avoid their routes just so I can breathe.

I Don't Spring Clean - I Clean When the Weather's Crummy

We got a new furnace and thermostat – which we haven’t totally figured out.  It was really cold yesterday morning.  Not a big problem for Jenna and me, but Roland needed warmer.  So he made a few adjustments and the air blasted and continued after he left.

I put my hair into pigtails to keep it off my neck.  I keep it up during the summer because it is so thick and weighs like a fleece blanket in addition to the already blasting sun. 

When Jenna and I left the house, my hair was still in pigtails.  I have worn it down when the morning air’s been cold.  But I didn’t bother taking the bands out of my hair, but secured my hat around them.  It was amazing how warm my ears felt.  I may just continue to do that.

In addition to a new furnace, some new appliances were added to our house.  As we made room for all our new material things, items were moved, furniture rearranged and it looks like a tornado blew into our house.  It’s in need of so much attention right now.

It’s much easier to clean the house when the skies are grey and the elements are cold and dreary.  When the sun is out, I would like to use the sunshine for other things – like reading or running errands or even taking the dog for a walk.  It’s hard for me to be motivated to clean when the weather is nice.

My niece and nephew would always clean whenever they would stress – which happened quite frequently when they were living with mom and her health had deteriorated.  I thought it would be nice to have them in my house (though the clutter alone could give anyone stress) and right now I’m so ready to let go of everything, I wouldn’t care what they threw away.

Monday I did an excellent job going through the drawers and discarded a lot more than I kept.  I need to do that with every room in the house.  But I have to be motivated.  I think I need to take a break and pick up when it gets dark again – which seems to happen earlier with each passing day.

I remember voting online for whether to keep daylight savings or not.  Must have not been legit as the anchors are sending reminders to set our clocks back.  The majority said to get rid of daylight savings.  Like 80%.  I hope that this is the last time we have to move our clocks an hour and that we can just stay on standard for the duration.

Looking for Answers in the Skies

     Randy helped Roland put the A/Cs up on Memorial Day.  Roland had wanted to do central air, but the cost would have been more than remolding the bathroom (and getting a new tub – which is I wanted – but not the entire expense all at once) Three fires and still just barely getting by on Roland’s check.  

     Ten more days and Pamprin will be eighteen.  No more child support – well except what the stupid state is suspending from his paycheck on the two years that Roland was UNEMPLOYED – and what’s the point of fighting it when the lawyer may end up sucking more out of us than Maleficent did (still does)  Still we should notice an increase in his paycheck – at least I hope.

     It was 88 degrees in our city yesterday.  Roland had looked it up online.  He said there was a difference of ten degrees from what his family members were experiencing in Tucson.  It wouldn’t be so bad if the climb or drop in temperature was gradual, but it’s not (and hasn’t been) 

     62 degrees.  Bamm now 88.  Bam, oh we’re back to 40.  Gradual would be 62, 62, 63, 65, 64, 66, 67 . . . . I wish the temperature would just stay between 66-72 all year long.  I really don’t like these constant 15-25 degree jumps!

     We had the air on last night.  It often dries me out.  But I can’t stand the heat.  So my choices are to wake up dry (often with a headache) or not even sleep at all due to the heat (which I am actually surprised hasn’t killed me off)

     It’s that time of year when laundry has to be washed more often than once a week – particularly the tops and bras.  I’d just to braless if there wasn’t so much weight in my sagging chest – but they are needed.  I don’t own any air conditioned underwear.  Thermals were invented to keep us warm – where is the underwear that will keep us cool?

     Yesterday was hot!  Deadly hot.  Okay, perhaps calling 88 degrees “deadly” is a slight exaggeration (especially when I have lived through some ugly three digit temperatures) the 20 degree jump just makes it feel deadly.  And now we’re back to an indecisive sky.  Will we have rain? Will I need my sunglasses?  I’m not taking my umbrella.  It will be worth getting wet (should the sky choose to rain)

 

     Well, those were my thoughts this morning.  I could feel the wind.  I put on long pants, but changed my entire outfit before we left the house.  It hadn’t even been an hour since I dressed when the top of me was soaked!  It was gross. 

     I don’t pick Jenna up today.  On Wednesday s after school, she takes a charter bus to her practice for the 5K that she’ll be running on Saturday.  Today will be her last day before the run.  And she’ll be out of school next week.

     Today is my birthday and she made a power point card which she showed to me this morning.  I’ve always had access to power point but never used it.  My ten year old showed me how.

     I’d like the skies to rain.  It has rained on my birthday before.  I had taken Jenna to the doctor that year.  Tomorrow I will be taking her back to the dentist (initially she was supposed to have six teeth pulled but three came out on their own)

 

Google wishes me a happy birthday each time I sign in.  Facebook friends and others have sent me wishes – but only Google has said “Happy Birthday, LaTiesha” 

   

     One of my visiting teachers came and got me and took me out to lunch.  That was a surprise.  She took me to a place that I had never even heard of before.  Good food.  Good company.  It was nice to visit with her.  It makes me feel like I’m not a very good visiting teacher though.  I’ve never done that for any of my sisters.

     The day is not over.  It hasn’t rained.  Perhaps after I put my first load on the line.

    

    

Change for November

Tomorrow is December 1st.  I am truly amazed at what an awesome November we've had.  Awesome in Salt Lake City, Utah, that is.  I understand they've had their fair share of snow in the southern part of the state - or windy or stormy weather.  But in my little corner of the world it's been a great November as far as the weather goes.

Oh, there have been a couple of days that have chilled to the bone.  Just a couple is odd for November.  Usually seems filled with darkened skies and dry moisture - I realize that is an oxymoron on my part.  But the winters in Utah are harsh with a dry air quality - much drier than in the summer - and yet November is usually always filled with rain or snow or sleet or hail.  I don't understand why when the elements are wet the air is dry - but it is.  My skin and my mouth are always thirsty.

Most all of the trees have lost their leaves by now.  There are still leaves crunching on the ground.  Only a few trees have color left on them.  The scenery doesn't seem as naked as when the skies are grey.  For the most part the skies have had a brilliant shine that isn't normal for this time of the year.  Jenna and I have shed both coat and jacket as we exit the bus to walk to school and on the return home.

We've been bussing it for two months now.  And we have been blessed with overall great walking weather.  We had a few flurries of snow on the 21st.  But that's all they were.  Flurries.  Nothing stuck.



I believed that the mountains had received more snow - but they're looking pretty naked also.  Not a good thing for skiers or those who built their business to rally around those connected with skiing or other winter sports.  We depend on the snow to be sent into the valley as it melts and makes its way down rivers and streams.  And when it doesn't snow, we don't get the water supply we need for our own growth.  But I honestly don't miss not having snow in the valley.

I loathe shopping.  I know I've mentioned it before.  All of my mom's children hate shopping - and yet we've all married avid shopaholics - or at least three of us have.  I hate crowds.  I hate traffic.  I don't even want to leave the house between Thanksgiving and Christmas because of the traffic.  Especially Saturdays.  And Black Friday.  Dark Friday.  Bleak Friday.  A taste-of-hell Friday.  There is absolutely no way I'd be camping a night or two in order to get the "good deals" No deal is worth that!



But I have gone out with Roland these past couple of days - I think mostly due to the awesome weather.  I would love for it just to stay that way - though I would prefer at least two more hours of daylight vision.  That sun seems to drop out of the sky very early and it gets dark quickly.  And stays dark.  Not like Alaska though.  It's a nice place to visit, but I wouldn't want to live there.

I'd like to live somewhere where the temperature is pretty much like it is for me right now.  And keep it at this temperature all year round.  Perhaps a little more color and not so many empty trees.  We have truly been blessed temperature wise.  At least I think we have been.

Bus Temperatures and Waiting

The one thing that I really don’t like about the bus system is the change in temperature.  Each bus driver has the ability to control how hot or cool the bus may be – or so that is my guess.

The regular driver, who takes Jenna and me from West Valley to Tannersville each morning, keeps his bus at a comfortable temperature – the way I like it in my house and room.  The way I keep it when Roland’s away.  Windows open.  Fans running.

Most of the older drivers keep the bus at furnace temperature – the way Roland likes it.  The way that makes me hot and uncomfortable and worn out. 

 

Long before I got married and was working downtown.  Taking the bus in summer wasn’t generally that big of a deal – not like it was in winter.  I would always sit in back next to a window that had been pried open.  I would remove my hat, my coat, my sweater and whatever else I could.  I’d pant. Before arriving at my designated spot I’d bundle up all over again.

Right now I wear a back pack in order to carry my coat, umbrella and sweater as needed.  I won’t need it when spring comes.

I’m actually getting familiar with some of the bus lines and how to get from here to there.  Yesterday I went out to see Harold.  It took only 30-40 minutes from Jenna’s school.  But the return home was not great.  The weather would have been fine with it.  My body was okay with just a sweatshirt but my ears and fingers felt frozen all day.  No hat seemed to work.  My ears felt like they would break off.

I should have gone back the way I came, but I took Desa’s advice at trying another route.  I must have just missed it and the other way late.  I think I’d been waiting for 30-40 minutes (the same amount of time it had taken for the entire trip between Alpine Ridge and Jenna’s school).  It took nearly two hours for me to return home.

Not quite as bad as it had been on Monday when I’d gone downtown to a rather expensive salon.  I wouldn’t have gone at all if the services offered hadn’t been free – well, free financially – but it did cost in time.  After I dropped Jenna off at school, I caught an 8:30 bus and transferred to go downtown.  90 minutes.  

I had arrived an hour before my appointment, but it just didn’t seem worth going home for just half an hour.  The hair dresser was late getting started which accounted for another 30 – 50 minutes. The process of fixing my hair was over two hours – which wasn’t a surprise.  I have a LOT of hair.

I was going to try another route on the return, but when I looked at the clock, I knew I should head back the way I came for there would not be enough time to go home.  I would have to return to the school for Jenna.  My bus arrived at the same time the first bell rang for dismissal.  Fortunately Jenna is a dawdler and hadn’t known how late I was at coming for her.

It’s true that I don’t like to wait for busses, but overall I have developed a sense of comfort – even though it does cost in time.  I’m okay with it at this point in time.

Just a Hint of Fall

There have been some mornings

in which I could feel a touch of fall in the air. 

Some mornings. 

Not all mornings. 

Not Yesterday. 

In fact it was hot.

 Jenna’s first day of school and

I put Highness in the car so that

I could take him for a walk. 

It was hot. 

Very hot.

The sun shown in my eyes.

Too bright.

I couldn’t drive home towards it

so we walked around until

The sun rose higher in the sky.

 

Yesterday was very unlike today

which has a coolness about it. 

I don’t know the temperature outside.

 But the promise of fall seems real now. 

Not like the overcast days in July when

the dark clouds filled the skies with

malicious teasing creating

a sticky hotness that wasn’t felt from the sun alone.

 

Today the sun peaks through

but there is still a touch of fall in the air. 

A touch of a promise. 

I don’t think we’re through with summer. 

The tomatoes have just started turning red,

and there are two fetus melons in the garden. 

I’d like to see them mature at least and

have others join them.

We did get peppers this year.

 I’d like to see them get bigger. 

The small ones have such a poignant sharp bite to them.

I don’t like them when they have a bite. 

But sometimes we have to pick them

before the brown disease sets in.

We have a garden. 

Not the one we had hoped for, but still. 

Things have been growing. 

Even though the heat has been unbearable.

 It was in June and it was

quite hot yesterday.

 I like the way the air is right now. 

Not to hot,

not too cool. 

I hope winter isn’t as cold as

summer was hot this year.

I’d like to see the skies

invite the rains

for real

in this state
in this city. 

I love fall.

                                                kfralc

Lyrics That Describe

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I can’t believe how bizarre this weather has been. 

It had been cool yesterday morning.  It’s Roland’s late day and thus he was sleeping in.  So I turned up the heat because I knew he was cold.

I took Highness for a walk after dropping Jenna off at school.  It was nice. Not too hot, not too cold.

I dropped by the bank on the way home.  Everytime I turned the corner the weather changed.  This song happened to be playing.  And I thought: “Yes, it is bizarre and it’s driving me crazy”

All day.  I had the windows open.  I shut the windows and turned up the heat.  It was raining when I picked Jenna up from school.  I was hot.  I was cold.  All within a mattes of minutes.  There was no bizarre menagerie or posters or such.  Just weather.  Sunglasses on. Sunglasses off.  Windbreaker on. Windbreaker off. “Everytime I looked around – [bizarre weather] in my face.”

Nice Going, Mother Nature!

Many mornings

After Roland has gone to work

I’ll open the bathroom window

Because I am hot

I‘ll leave the window open all day

And Roland will close it

After I fall asleep

Because he is cold

When we went to

Aunt Neone’s funeral last year

It was cool jacket weather

At least in Salt Lake City

Where the funeral was held

But the burial was in another county

Where it was cold

And snowing a theatre snow.

The snow itself did not seem real

But we all could have used coats.

Monday was hot.  Roland had left

The window open and the fan was on

I don’t even think he was covered entirely

With blankets as he usually is

And yesterday was overcast and cool

Last night it snowed.  That weird theater snow

It feels like Styrofoam.  It isn’t cold.

But the air is.  I can’t believe how hot I’ve been

And how cold it is right now.

I personally would rather have the cold

The theatre snow, the grey.

I do like sunshine for the light.  But not the blaring heat.

After Roland goes to work, I’m turning the heat off.

                                                                     taken at 7:00 am