HERD ABOUT IT?

by Ana Grarian

This weekend I have had the luxury of sitting out the heat like an old dog in the relative comfort of my ceiling fan. It’s been in the 90’s hard on the 100 degree mark. I don’t do heat. I wear t-shirts all winter and b*tch because public places keep their thermostats too high.
On the farm I was much more productive. For one thing it didn’t get as hot there. We were at a higher elevation and since we were also at the crest of a ridge, there was always a breeze. Many of our years there we had a pool. My coping mechanism was to work, jump in the pool, work, jump in the pool, work, jump in the pool, you get the picture. That pool was also great for sleeping on hot summer nights, or later in life, taming hot flashes. I’d start tossing and turning at 2 or 3 am, kicking the covers off, and finally go jump in the pool. Then I would sleep peacefully for a few hours while my husband sleepily wondered who stuck the ice berg in his bed. Right now I have a couple of inches of water in my bathtub. Every once in a while I go and wet down my arms and neck. I’d sit with my feet in it but with my luck I’d drop the computer.
I can also remember filling my boots with cold water at chore time, though mostly I would just milk barefoot in the summer. We had a 30 cow tie stall barn.Nothing like squeezing between two 100+ degree 1200 pound furry animals on a hot summer day.

Of course nothing beats climbing into a second story hay mow and putting away hundreds of scratchy bales of hay or straw. If possible we would put this task off until evening, unless of course a storm was threatening, hot or not you don’t let all that hard work go down the drain with a rain storm.
For the next two days I get to work the hottest part of the day…in an air conditioned store. Ah the luxury. Hopefully tonight I will have the self determination to get some exercise in. Once the sun goes down bicycling creates enough of a breeze to overcome the heat it generates. Last night I darn near dragged my mattress out onto the stairs – only the threat of blinding my neighbors stopped me. It’s supposed to go down into the tolerable 80’s by the weekend with cool sleepable nights. I can’t wait.

I have a friend who farms in Waco, TX. Bethel – you are one hell of a woman -in many, many ways. Here’s a link to her blog. HOT Urban Gardening – indeed!

http://hotugc.org/2010/07/01/agrarian-road-trip-part-four/