It's hot, hot, hot and steamy in the Northeast, and in upstate northeastern New York, with temperatures pushing the 90s for the past two days and expected to continue for five more days. It's just plain hot and not normally this hot in late June/early July, nor for such an extended period. Call it global warming (I'll say!) or whatever you want, but it is not typical at this time of year. Sure, we can get some hot and humid days in summer, but usually they don't arrive until late July and August, so this is not the nicest time to be suddenly so warm and uncomfortable. But we endure...
Despite the unseasonable heat, I pulled out the July 4th storage box of goodies, including this lovely pair of bunnies all decked out for the Independence Day holiday this week, along with a few other items I keep for holiday celebrations. In the past, I've put them on my rockers on the front porch, but I think it's a bit too hot to leave them out in the blazing sun this year, so they're staying nice and cool sharing a lovely weathered folding deck chair indoors.
As many have noted, July 4 falling on a Wednesday is slightly awkward timing this year, though many folks still enjoy having a mid-week celebration to break up the work week or summer vacation period. I'm happy to have a nice shorter work week and will be attending my favorite local parade early in the morning on the 4th before it gets too hot for man or beast!
On a related note, my aged washing machine's drive belt gave up the ghost about two weeks ago, so I finally had to bite the bullet while awaiting a replacement belt and took my laundry to the -- ugh -- laundromat nearby early this morning, when it was both cooler (and air conditioned) and fairly empty. I'm not a fan of laundromats, but when push comes to shove, I needed to have some clean clothes so I took my wash to the big machines and just ran them through a full cycle. I brought them home to dry, since the dryer is working fine. Still, I don't love doing laundry or running the dryer when it's so unbearably hot outside, but I got it done as early as I could so as not to have it throwing off any heat in the house for too long. Needless to say, I won't be doing any cooking that requires the use of the oven during the next week, either. It's just too hot for that, too, so cold items and salads are the order of the week now.
After a short trip to do some grocery shopping and then returning home to water my plants and veggies that I'm growing (or summering) outdoors - the radishes, leaf lettuce, herbs and annuals (some of which have survived the winter indoors for two years!) are all doing well, I'm staying squarely parked indoors and doing a bit of indoor sorting, tossing and organizing. It is an endless task, but I'm keen to make a dent in the accumulated stuff and keep the volume under a bit better control.
Stay cool and enjoy a safe and pleasant July 4th holiday!
