Want to go back to Colorado!!!! But, no. I get this, instead . . .6:21 PM Sunday, June 5, 2011:
Now
Clear
Temperature
Feels Like 109 °F
Wind(mph)
Sunrise / Set
5:56 AM
8:07 PM
We are breaking heat records in Mississippi. It got to 99 in our town, today, which was just a tie with the previous record set in 1985 (could be worse, in other words). Still, it's awfully hard to accomplish much of anything when it's so freaking hot. I feel deeply for my lifeguard son, sweating in this heat.
During my mid-day siestas, I've been rethinking my review of Fire Season: Field Notes from a Wilderness Lookout by Philip Connors, a book that has completely thrown me off my blogging game. You know the kind of book that you love so much you're afraid you can't possibly do it justice? That's Fire Season, aka "The reason I haven't written a book review, lately." I might attempt a self-interview to get myself over the reviewing hump in my blogging highway. Since I finished reading Fire Season, I've read Proust's Overcoat, The Art of Racing in the Rain and Regeneration (see my sidebar for authors). I'm on the verge of possibly finishing You Know When the Men Are Gone. And, still, Fire Season is rolling around in my head. Maybe I'll review out of sequence.
Meanwhile, I am dreaming of these days . . . which won't arrive for another 4 or 5 months. Ah, the days of open windows.
©2011 Nancy Horner. All rights reserved. If you are reading this post at a site other than Bookfoolery and Babble or its RSS feed, you are reading a stolen feed. Email bookfoolery@gmail.com for written permission to reproduce text or photos.
Wow, that is a hell of of heat index here. No wonder my neighbor's relatives from Alabama are visiting. Here in Southern California we barely hit the average temps lately, if we hit them at all.
ReplyDeleteSarah,
ReplyDeleteENVY!!! Yes, it certainly is a hell of a heat index - and a bit early, too. I'm staying indoors, hiding from the heat and bright sunlight (both of which trigger migraines) with the blinds closed. Maybe I'll get a lot of reading done, this month. There's got to be some way to come up with a positive spin on the heat, right? :)
Cry me a river, Bookfool, I'm going in to a room of 26 children who are Ready for Summer, in 90+ degrees, and NO AIR CONDITIONING tomorrow. Shoot me now.
ReplyDeleteThanks for putting that heat number into perspective for me. My Airman son is in Biloxi and is downright miserable. 90 with 99% humidity right on the beach but still so hot. It's 106 degrees here today - but we like to say, "it's a dry heat!"
ReplyDeleteI am like you, migraines are triggered by the heat and the sun, so I love a cool shaded reading room.
Hang tough on the reviews....I'm ready to read them when you're ready to write. Until then maybe I can catch up to you. You're a reading-machine lately.
Here's wishing you cool fan, a frosty lemonade and some arctic breezes!
Come West, good friend. We had record rain for June.
ReplyDeleteWe reverted to winter this weekend. It rained, which is just bizarre for us in June. Still, I'd rather have reain than 99 freakin' degrees!
ReplyDeleteBellezza,
ReplyDeleteHow about I shoot you some ice cubes? I remember days at school pre-A/C. Even as a 3rd grader, they gave me migraines. I used to go to the bathroom, soak one of those brown, rectangular paper towels in cold water and sit at my desk with my little towel pressed to my forehead, dripping on my classwork. This is why I love winter. :)
Gaye,
Have you ever seen Biloxi Blues? I remember seeing that in college and how the protagonist complained that it wasn't just hot, it was "Africa hot". A couple years later, I moved here and thought, "Yep. He was right." LOL It's actually much drier than usual, right now, and dry heat is definitely more tolerable. I grew up with dry heat. I feel for your airman. I'll bet he's out in it a good bit.
Oh, so sorry you have the same horrible migraine trigger. It's horrible living in a hot, bright climate when hot and bright are both migraine triggers, isn't it? Not much you can do but try to avoid the worst part of the day, though.
I had a great reading week, thanks. :) I'll do my best to get some reviews written, this week, but I just don't feel like doing much of anything. Sipping water, sleeping, reading . . . that's my agenda.
Haha! Arctic breezes would be nice! Lemonade, too. :) I do have the fans, of course.
Cindi,
ReplyDeleteBwaaaah! I want to visit you!!!! But, I can't. I've already got my entire summer booked solid.
I can't even remember the last time it rained. It's been kind of odd . . . record flooding on the river while we've been having a drought (the river is dropping rapidly, though, and I'm sure the lack of rain has helped).
Softdrink,
I would take winter weather over summer anytime. But, our summers really do suck and our winters are pleasant (in my humble opinion - real Mississippians tend to disagree).
I...feel...your...pain! Truly. We went to an outdoor wedding last evening - temps were 98 at the beginning of the wedding. The seats were in the full sunlight and very close together. I was a puddle. Beautiful wedding and all I could think about was my husband's arm was making me hotter - he had it on the back of my chair because it was so crowded. Finally it ended and we went and drank about a gallon of iced tea and water and lemonade. :-)
ReplyDeleteTake me to the mountains now, please!!
Kay,
ReplyDeleteOh, how awful! Sweating in shorts is bad enough, but in a nice outfit . . . that is somehow totally wrong. I'll bet you drank a gallon! I think half of the South would be hopping a plane, now, if we could.
I loved The Art of Racing in the Rain! Sorry you are suffering from heat ickiness. In southern California it's raining! How odd is that for June?!
ReplyDeleteHelen,
ReplyDeleteI think we can safely say Mother Nature has totally lost it, this year. Rain in Southern California is just as weird as drought in Mississippi - at least this early in the year.
I loved The Art of Racing in the Rain, too. Enzo is such a great narrator, isn't he?
I know what you mean about it being hot. It's 96 here, and it feels like I am baking every time I walk from the house to the car. I hate it when it's like this, but as everyone keeps reminding me, it's Florida!
ReplyDeleteYep. I love/hate those throw-me-off-my-game books! They're wonderful but then nothing else can live up. Would love to read a self-interview of it!
ReplyDeleteZibilee,
ReplyDeleteYeah, baking is right. Mississippi has such long summers (I know you do, too!). You'd think I'd be used to them after 2 1/2 decades, but no. I always wanted to move north, even when I was a kid!!! Still don't love the heat.
Andi,
Exactly. The book was wonderful. The review part . . . eck. Sometimes I think, "Big sigh. Wow." would be the best way to review some books. Fortunately, everything I've read lately has been terrific, so finishing Fire Season didn't send me into a tailspin. I'm still reading up a storm.
Hello there from Houston where we are also sitting in the upper 90's, and it isn't any kind of "dry heat", either! But really, the reason I'm commenting is... I LOVED Fire Season, too. It made me crazy. I made my father buy it (I've promised to buy it back from him if he doesn't like it, but I think I'm safe). So good. I did review it, although I share your fear that I haven't done it justice. Perhaps you can tell me what you think. Here tis.
ReplyDeleteOh, that heat must be so miserable! Fire Season is my next audiobook, so I'm thrilled to see that you liked it so much.
ReplyDeletePagesofJulia,
ReplyDeleteOh, yes. I have experienced the heat and humidity of Houston. I think you may have earned my top honors for most miserable city -- I was there during hundred-teen weather . . . which I grew up with in Oklahoma, but not with that level of humidity!!!
I'll have to hold on reading your review because I have a policy of not reading reviews of books I've read till I've written my own, but I'll drop by after I have! Sneaky of you to have your father buy it. Isn't it just amazing? I still haven't done any work on my review. The heat is making me feel like the plants on my porch. Oh, dear. I hope I don't look *that* bad.
Alyce,
Oh, cool. You have a really great experience ahead of you. I just thought it was wonderful on so many levels. That's why I'm so thoroughly stuck. I don't know how to begin to get across how awesome Fire Season is.
We had record breaking rain all weekend. It was glorious. I'm dreading the return of our normal summer weather but I can't wait to pack away the winter clothes.
ReplyDeleteCarrie,
ReplyDeleteWe had sprinkles! And, it's cooled off! Wow, I can't believe you haven't even packed away the winter clothes. That's wild. I would be happy to wear winter clothing year-round. It's better camouflage. Not that you can hide a body like mine, but I feel better in layers.