Too Hot to Crockpot

The weather has been good to us this year; we were lucky that way. (I know many other regions were not so fortunate.)

We had record amounts of rain and snow, and while that wasn’t always easy, especially when the power went out for days and there was five feet of snow between my house and Main Street, we survived. We survived, and the snow and rain filled up our reservoirs, and for the first time in years I feel less guilty about turning on my sprinklers and watering my flowers. The trees are fruiting. It hasn’t even been that hot!

Until now.

This weekend?

It’s hot.

We’ve historically known what to do in these parts when the days get hot. Open the windows at night to let the Delta breeze blow in. Close them in the morning to lock in that cold air. Most older homes around here weren’t built with air conditioning. I grew up to the song of my Mom calling me to “open the windows” in the evening and “close the windows” in the late morning. I’ve had my children do the same thing. Sure, the house can get a little uncomfortable in the late afternoon when the sun is beaming in, but hang on for an hour or so, and the sun dips, and the breeze wanders back, and all is well.

All is well, that is, when the overnight lows drop into the fifties and sixties, which is “normal,” according to the weather charts.

Except normal is not so normal anymore.

I’m sure I’ve mentioned this problem of our “new normal” before here, possibly 1000 times. It is just difficult when the overnight lows stay in the seventies and daytime highs are in the hundreds. The low tonight will not be 59 degrees (our historical average). It will be 75. And 75 feels pretty sweaty when you are trying to sleep. I know that a window air conditioning unit would help, except my windows are old, fancy ones that open outward with a crank, and there is no way to put a unit in them. (We do have fans, and they help a lot.)

It occurred to me this morning as I was making my bed that perhaps it would be a good idea to finally take off my flannel sheets and down comforter (which just goes to show you what a lovely spring and beginning to summer we’ve had this year). Also, I remembered that it’s smart to use appliances that radiate heat early in the day. My new rule: no appliances that emit heat once the sun is up. That means making iced tea and hummingbird food early and remembering to start the dryer if I need it. It’s also meant that I leave my crockpot on the shelf.

Maybe it’s my imagination, but that thing seems to radiate a little heat, which is lovely in the winter, but not so good right now. It’s not a huge problem, though, because when it’s 80 degrees in the house, hot food doesn’t sound so appealing anyway.

Here is one good thing about the heat, though: my vegetables are loving it. The cucumbers I planted a few weeks ago have grown tall enough to reach out and grab the fence netting that is next to their planter box. Something about that strikes me as so miraculous. Like, how do they know that if they reach out a little further, they will find something to hold onto? Seems like it happened over night. One day they were on dirt, and the next they had wound their little tendrils around the support that they needed.

I am going to try to be more like those cucumbers: reaching out for support, especially on days that are brutally hot. I’m grateful for my friends who have pools who invite us over to swim, for friends with air conditioning who let us come for a visit. I’m thankful for our little community pool that is open every day in the summer, for the cooling centers that have sprung up in nearby towns. Somehow, we make it through these days together. And hopefully there will be cucumbers, tomatoes, and a little break in the weather soon.