Dry Heat

People laugh about other people who visit Arizona and say, "It was 103 degrees, but it was a dry heat, so it didn't feel that hot." The laughers' rationale is that 103 is 103--still hot by human standards. Well, I am here to tell you that humidity DOES make a huge difference in the perception of heat. We have had record-setting temps the last few days, but the humidity is way down. It doesn't feel nearly as bad as it did, say, over Memorial Day weekend for the Indy 500 (the hottest 500 on record)! I'll take the dry heat over the muggy stuff any day!

Indianapolis has had 37 days (and counting) of temperatures in the 90s, when the average is 18 days. We never hit 100 degrees, except in the heat indices, which is the summer's equivalent to a wind chill factor. Still, it was uncomfortable enough that I didn't feel good about letting the grandchildren play outside when they were here. Then there were the mosquitoes caused by extremely wet weather in the early summer. Now, all that has dried up, big time. We are five inches short of rainfall, starting in late July. Lawns are crispy. Perennials are all but dead. Fields of crops are catching fire and consuming thousands of acres of farmers' incomes--plus a few homes. About half the state of Indiana is under burn bans. (Too bad for people who are camping and would like to have a nice campfire in the evening.) I guess the temperatures will be much lower for the weekend. (It's about time!) I'm no meteorologist, but I'm guessing that this break will represent the last of the hot days for the season. I hate to see summer go, but I do look forward to more pleasant days, even if they are shorter in duration.

I do like autumn! I cheered myself up a bit today by locating my box of fall decorations and spiffed up the place a bit with it. It's not nearly as garish as Christmas stuff, so I like it.

My dear friends and co-grandparents are spending the weekend in Zion, IL, with their son, daughter-in-law, and our grandchildren...in their brand-new car! They have purchased a white Toyota Venza. Very pretty! I will have to hide mine, now. Can't have the two buggies next to one another! (Unless they want to breed. Hmmm... Is this a possibility?)

I did get off my fanny today and actually did some work. Work?? That's an action verb, I guess. Time to go do more of it...