Warm...Warmer...Hot! ...by Sr. Dorothy

We're breaking temperature records this week in Washington State--it must be our turn. We've heard of the heat waves in other parts of the country and up until the past few years have been a little smug about our moderate weather here in the Pacific Northwest. Things seem to be changing.  There was a time when we could count on rain on the 4th of July, but this year we haven't seen rain in a while, certainly not on the 4th. Hot and dry, and our pink rose bush in the cemetery is loving it.

The animals are looking for shade on the hottest days. The buck in the picture above found his right outside my window one floor down a couple of days ago. Fortunately it's now cooling a bit--80's instead of 90's. And I can hear those Arizonans now: "90's?! Try 117!" I used to live there long ago, and can personally attest to 120 degree days in Phoenix more than 50 years ago. Sounds like not much has changed down there!

Our main floor gets sun directly on the roof and so is pretty warm in the areas of our monastery without air conditioning, like my office. But work still needs to be done, so when there's any cool air outside I open the window to let it in, then close it as it begins to warm--and turn on the fan. Lots of people have endured worse, and this is just how it is this year. Who knows, we might have a rainy August! Well, I'm a native Texan who's become a true Northwesterner--waiting all year for summer, then can't wait til it rains again!