Heat Wave

You know you live in a mild climate when people begin to freak out when the mercury rises above 80°F. People compare what their thermometers read ("It was already 75 when I left for work at 7am!" "Yesterday afternoon it said 85° in the shade!") Of course the "official" weather station for this area is at the airport, at a windy, often foggy spit on the bay, meaning our temps are recorded as 68 when they are closer to 86. The kids in the middle school yesterday were very restless and hot, making themselves fans, some of the boys pulling their shirts up to their shoulders to cool off after recess- at least my room was on the back of the building and stayed fairly cool until the afternoon. This weather is so bizarre- we get heat like this about once a summer, and it's only May!

It seems as though we went directly from winter to summer, with no real spring in which to plant our garden. All the starts I planted the other weekend burned to a crisp in this heat, even with regular watering and the protection of a row cover. My flower seeds in the front are likely the same situation. We are probably going to have to purchase a bunch more nursery starts, since seeds and little homemade sprouts aren't going to make it. At least the tomatoes are happy. The parsley, beets, kale & broccoli we had overwinter is now bolting like crazy.

We grilled the other night, made grilled potatoes (so good- cut a potato in half, zap it for a few minutes, and finish cooking it on the grill, serve with sour cream and lots of salt & pepper) and buffalo burgers, the only meat burgers I will eat (if they are made with chip crumbs and bbq sauce, & cheddar & bleu cheese, with a thick slab of tomato on top). MMM summer food. Now if only we had fresh tomatoes from our vines for bruschetta and zucchinis to grill too.

This weather makes me feel like we should spend every minute outside, but really then it's too hot (I got sunburned a few days ago), and there are yellowjackets trying to make nests everywhere (we're at war with them, we found a non-poison spray that works very well). It also makes me feel like we should be somewhere else- it's so atypical for our area, it doesn't feel natural that the heat is here rather than somewhere hot. I feel ridiculous knitting a cashmere-ey sweater, even if it is short sleeved. I should be working on a little bamboo tank (like Honeymoon) or something, but I've only got like an inch left to go on Tempting.

Maybe I can convince the hubby to go out to the beach this evening with the dogs, or go with my Mom when she comes tomorrow. Too bad the water is perpetually 55°, swimming would be fun, but frigid. I do hope my nephew can come down this summer and learn to surf with me though.