The Dog Days of Summer…

It hasn’t really felt like a summer. Most of May, June and July were a few warm days, between bouts of rain. And more rain. More than we had last year for sure, but so much that even at the beginning of August, the ground of the trail leading to our property, and the spot where the camper will be are still soaked. Muddy, boggy puddles are everywhere.

And while much of the country is experiencing drought conditions, and wildfires are everywhere, we should be more than happy for the rain. But the reality is that the rain holds us up.

It prevents us from driving to the camper with the truck, and prevents us moving the camper to its spot, as well as stops us from being able to actually start building on the property.

Around August 6, it started getting warm. 27, 28 and 29 degrees centigrade. And no rain, although it was frequently forecast and threatened with cloud cover. And the temperatures climbed. The weekend was two days of a forecasted 31c.

We have a digital ‘weather station ‘, which has an outdoor sensor for temperature and an indoor one. It measured 33c outside and a balmy 32c inside the camper yesterday.

On days like these even just a short slow walk with Remy ensures a barrage of uncomfortable sticky sweat, as the humidity is so high from all the previous rain.

We’ve taken to giving Remy “water bones” – ice cubes – which he relishes in this heat to cook off. None of us feel like being productive, and the only relief we have had is the small desktop fan we pulled out from our storage area when we moved it onto the property. It has been a blessing.

We’re waiting on a new cord to charge up our little shower pump, as we misplaced the original cord, so sponge baths and pouring some saved rain water over ourselves has been sufficient for cooling off for a short while.

Sometimes, just sitting and talking about life, our plans and the world in general is good for the soul while temporarily setting aside the mountain of tasks we need to accomplish. It’s good to take a break. After all, a big reason we are doing what we are here is to not be held to strict deadlines and routines. And to take care of ourselves, mentally, physically and emotionally.

Sometimes the universe forces you to take a break. And right now, it’s been doing that for us. We’re listening.