In Like a Lion

I was watching one of the playoff games Saturday night when I realized the background sound I was hearing wasn't the air-conditioning, which has been off for some time now, but a steady pouring rain. Then the lightning and thunder started.

A cold front had come through earlier. It was sheeting down amid gusting winds so I checked to make sure all the windows were closed. They weren't but the ones that were open were only cracked a bit and not enough to let the rain in. Most of the lightning was comfortably off in the distance, but one bolt did strike close enough to rattle the entire house.

The local weather people (I do not usually watch that channel and have no idea who they might be other than a conventionally beautiful TV couple) came on during a break in the action to let us know about a severe thunderstorm warning for our area (bit late on that one) and a tornado warning (good to know but, since it's pitch dark outside, between the sound of the rain and thunder how will I know if there is one before it hits?) and also to reassure us that their continuing planned interruptions will not mean that we miss even one second of the game (we have our priorities after all).

The storm passed, and so did the weather announcements, before the game was over and it wasn't until the next day I found out, in addition to about three inches of rain, we did indeed have a tornado in town.

Most of the "tornadoes" we get occur during the summer and are little more than glorified waterspouts coming in off the gulf. Mom did get pictures of one once that came ashore and tossed a few cars around.

This was a real tornado. EF2. The news said it covered a distance of over three miles but, if so, it must have started offshore and worked its way through the coastal swamp first because the affected area seems to be only a mile or so long and is only about three, maybe four, miles away from our house as the egret flies. Most of the damage appears to be roofs, trees, cars, fences and power lines although even that they're totaling out at over $6 million. No deaths, fortunately. No serious injuries. Not impressive for any plains folk but, still, it's the biggest tornado in over 60 years here.

As for us, the storm knocked over the grapefruit tree I gave my brother for Christmas but that doesn't count since he hasn't gotten around to planting it yet and it's still sitting in its bucket just outside the lanai doorway. And for the record, yes, I did take the two seconds to tip it back upright again.

High Summer

We raised the flag on the new flagpole on Flag Day even though the cement never set properly, mostly due to the continuing rains, and the pole itself wobbles a bit in the sleeve. Also, we didn't raise the flag so much as raised the pole with the flag attached since the pole is extendable but doesn't have a lanyard and the flag snaps directly to the fixed clips. Nevertheless, it is tall, above the lowest power lines so it was a good idea to shift it back a few feet, and looks good.

Flag Day is also my brother's birthday, so we had the traditional shrimp and scallops sauteed in olive oil and garlic butter with threads of red and yellow sweet peppers served over linguine, corn on the cob and biscuits on the side and apple pie for dessert. We were halfway through the meal when my brother realized the lack of lanyard on the flag pole meant he couldn't fly the flag at half staff if necessary but the old pole had no hoist either and that was never a problem in all the previous decades. If the necessity ever arises, he can just take the flag down.

The mango harvest is slowing a bit. The squirrel and birds and insects have had more than their share and a lot of the fruits dropped too small this year but we have a dozen containers in the refrigerator half a dozen bags in the freezer and still there are another dozen on the counter waiting to be processed. And that doesn't count the ones that have been given away or made into salsa or mango bread already. I'll be making two more loaves tomorrow to give to the nurses when I go in for this month's platelet donation Thursday.

We're having to harvest the tomatoes a little before full ripeness due to the rain which is causing them to swell and burst. The peppers don't seem to have that problem.

Every week my brother cranks the air conditioning down another notch in order to sleep at night. We started the season set at 83F (28C) but now it's sometimes down to 79F (26C) which can seem downright chilly. It's the humidity that's making him uncomfortable more than the heat.

Jump Starting the Cats

We turned on the air conditioning for the second time last evening. Just for the night. It was muggy and sticky and my brother wanted to get a good night's sleep as he had to get up early this morning. So we went around closing all the windows and the front door and cranked up the air, mostly to remove the humidity.

Prior to this, the cats had been flaking out in various locations. Mittens was in my room lying on a bookshelf by an open window. Jasmine was splayed out in the foyer not even pretending to look for lizards and had to be shoveled inside so we could close the door. Paribanour was installed in her usual spot atop the TV. Not one of them had so much as twitched for more than an hour.

The dehumidification was palpable almost immediately. I put down their evening kibble.

Within minutes they were chasing each other around the house, banging into furniture, bouncing off the walls and skittering around their humans. Up the end and across the top of the couch, onto my chair and over me, through the kitchen into the dining room, down the hall crashing into the closet door and then racing full-speed back through the living room into my brother's room and another crash. Repeat with variations.

After about twenty minutes of frenetic mayhem, they all collapsed in the living room.

The air conditioning is off again, for now.

Transitions

Well, we broke down and turned on the air conditioning. Mostly for the dehumidifying effect although it did get up to 90F (32C) in the house the other day (which was only about three degrees less than outside).

The cats don't like it, which is a little surprising since when it is off they lie around like furry little rag dolls and when it's on they wake up, move around, play, eat, etc. Their disapproval stems mostly, I think, because we have to run around and close all the windows and doors before cranking up the system and that deprives them of their favorite hobby, clawing through the screens.

We set the thermostat at 83 because, like I said, it's mostly about the humidity. We're not officially in Rainy Season yet, but we've gotten into a cyclic pattern of bright, clear mornings and afternoon/evening thunderstorms. Once the storm passes with the resulting humidity drop, night time is wonderful with soft, cool breezes and we turn everything off and open all the windows and doors again. By noon the next day it's time to close up and repeat. Eventually, as we get into summer we'll have to just seal it all up completely until fall.

New Year, Same Us

Looks like the New Year just turned on a dime.

It started the way it ended: warm, slightly humid, cloudy. Yesterday a cold front moved through. Perhaps it's a "cold front" since it can't compare to the deep freeze people are going through in the rest of the country, but our temperatures did drop 20 degrees over the course of two hours and rain came in wiping out the humidity. The crescent moon was out but I've become a wimp since moving down here and it was too damn cold to use the telescope.

The house got down to 65F last night but a warming trend is forecast for the weekend and it's going to have to stay "cold" for a lot longer before we break down and turn on the heat. Undershirts, long sleeves (my brother broke out a flannel shirt I didn't even know he owned) and sweaters for outdoors are more than sufficient for us although the cats, despite their fuzziness, are not happy. This is the kittens' first winter and they don't know what to make of it. That, and the Christmas tree coming down, is confusing them no end. At least the cooler weather has convinced the library to finally turn off their air conditioning.

The cold did do in my car battery and I had to have my brother come down to the deli where it died and jump start it. New battery, new posts, new left headlight (coincidence) and we're good to go.

Meanwhile, I find out my brother ran a stop sign on a deserted* road where only one directional turn is permitted . . . and managed to get caught. So he now has his first moving violation in over 20 years, a $167 fine (Who makes up these numbers? What's the logic?) and has to take an on-line remedial driver's course. I presume that's to keep points off his license.

And I forgot my platelet donation was scheduled for the second and went ahead and took my aspirin on the first. I was scheduled for two donations this month but now we'll only do the one on the 30th. I feel bad about that.

Happy New Year!

*except for the lurking cop who caught him.

Turnings

I can tell that fall is here even though our days never get as long in the summer or short in the winter as they do further north.

The temperature no longer goes into the mid- to high-90s but stops short around 85 or so with high 70s in the evening. Soon we'll be able to turn off the air conditioner and open up the windows again.

The humidity is dropping as well although we do get the occasional evening rain still. (Another reason the windows are not open, yet.)

Leaves don't turn colors down here but palm fronds have been dropping like crazy littering lawns all around. I had one fall right next to me while I was leaving the library yesterday. They're not as heavy or dangerous as a falling branch from a traditional tree but they're not just leaves, either.

Most tellingly, the price of gasoline has just dropped four cents per gallon in the last two days.

Bartleby Victorious

Bartleby's subtle and clever plan of inaction has come to successful fruition and she is proud of herself for it.

Bartleby is now an indoor cat.

Most of the recent monsoons have been accompanied by thunder and lightning and a couple of the cells have passed directly over us with literally house-shaking consequences. Unlike, say, a dog which is not ashamed to admit its fear of natural forces, Bartleby pretended not to be afraid of the storms. It was, of course, sheer coincidence that, during said storms, the only comfortable place to take a nap was wedged tightly in behind the slider-rocker in the lanai. (Any other time she'd be sprawled across the highest point she could find: chair back, table top, etc.)

My brother took pity upon her and got into the habit of bringing her into his room during the worst of it and then kicking her outside again afterward. (Actually, I was the first guilty party, bringing her in during the tornado warning.)

Last week, however, something happened. My brother had set up a fancy enclosed litter box for her in his room along with food and water and during a particularly vicious storm had let her stay with him. This suited her at first, but now she refuses to go into his room so I have brought her food and water into the hall outside his door. Meanwhile, Bartleby has appropriated a small throw rug in the middle of the walkway between the kitchen and living room where she sleeps 18 hours a day forcing us to take giant steps over her.
Pretty much her sole activity consists of sticking her head in the refrigerator and enjoying the cold air whenever the opportunity presents itself.

Actually, now that she is confident she can come inside whenever she wants, she is more willing to go outside. Yesterday, she knocked on the glass door of the lanai to go out and half an hour later came to the front door to be let in again. Despite the heat and humidity she's taken to sleeping under my car again which is pretty much full circle from when we found her.

Except now she's confident she has finally successfully trained us to her bidding.

High Summer

I know Summer doesn't "officially" start for another day or so but I am a big fan of the ancient traditional seasons where the longest days of the year are "Mid-Summer" and the longest nights are "Deep Winter." This is brought to mind by the sudden appearance of a string of the most glorious bright, dry, sunny, slightly breezy days we've seen in months. We've turned off the air-conditioning and flung open all the windows.

We can expect one or two more before the humidity returns.

Time to turn off the computer and go play outside.

Miscellanea

Well, the humidity is gone, there's not a cloud in the sky, a "cold" front came through a couple of days ago and the temperature is hovering around 75F. The air-conditioning is off and the doors and windows open. This is what people come to Florida for. They should start arriving in a month.

Meanwhile, Mom's insomnia is back. For the last two nights she has been sneaking out of her room after everyone has gone to bed (otherwise we send her back when we see her) and sleeping on the couch. Why she can sleep on the couch with no pillows or blankets and not in her bed is beyond me--or her. She claims to have no memory of doing any of this even when I find her sacked out in the living room in the morning. We had a long talk about it the night before and she came up with an elaborate strategy for returning the offender to bed while not admitting that she is the offender in question. (The strategy works but obviously not permanently.)

The lawn mower has been repaired, returned and used. The black snake no longer has to lift its head to peer around before deciding which way to go. I watched it last week lift about four inches off the ground before it could see in any direction. It then slithered off to the woodpile.

The "Princeton" is growing out. My part is back and I must occasionally brush my hair or it will rise up on its own to form a ridge from front to back which, although much the style with the kids these days, doesn't work well with gray hair and a beard.

Lazy, Hazy Daze

So, it was a perfect summer day yesterday, sunny, scattered clouds, warm (but not excessively like the rest of the country), no humidity (that's always the killer this time of year) and I talked Mom into going outside for a while, something she just does not do anymore. She sat out front in the shade at the edge of the grass in a cushioned lawn chair and I brought her her book and a drink and joined her with one of each of my own and we watched my brother mow the lawn.

She offered me some of her juice assuring me, "I haven't tasted it, yet." I showed her I had my own.

She said it was too hot out and her juice was going to get warm. I said that was why I had put an ice cube in it.

She said it was too hot and the ice cube was going to melt before she could finish her drink. I said it was still better than no ice cube. (I didn't mention that she normally doesn't want ice in her drinks at all.) She said, "That's true," and offered to share with me. I showed her my drink. We both sat and read for a while.

After about forty minutes she said, "My seat's getting sore and it's too hot out here," so we packed everything back up and moved inside where the thermostat is set at 79. She put on her sweater, sat on the couch and read her book.

Saunamobile

I foolishly left my car windows open last night. In my defense, it hasn't rained directly here in several days (although we could see the rain coming down all around us) and the humidity was way down and there were no clouds of consequence nearby. So I took the chance.

Somewhere around 11 p.m. I realized the sound I was hearing was not the air conditioner fan but rain pounding on the roof. I could see the full moon through the clouds even though it was pouring. So I ran out and put the windows up even though the interior was already wet. (I think I must have gotten out there fairly early in the storm because the seats were damp but not soaked through.)

When I went out to retrieve the mail at noon today I opened the driver's door and was stunned by a blast of intense humidity. I could hardly breathe as I sat down to insert the key to activate the windows. The buttons were so hot I couldn't maintain contact and had to press them intermittently. Even an hour later the car is noticeably more humid than the surrounding air.

On the bright side, a few minutes in the car makes the rest of the Florida day seem very comfortable.

Necrophages in the Shade

We had a rough weekend in terms of system collapses and infrastructure breakdowns. People are all O.K. but the air conditioning quit on Sunday and my brother's truck has developed an out-of-alignment condition that led on Saturday to a shredded front tire which was rust welded to the wheel so he was vehicleless until today when he could take it into the shop. He got back just as the HVAC guy was crawling into the attic.

So it was no real surprise to me to find four turkey vultures on the front lawn standing in a circle under a large shade tree. One had the red head of an adult but the other three were black-headed juveniles. They stood a little over two feet tall with three to three-and-a-half foot wingspans. They circled the tree and each other occasionally rising up into the lower branches although they would descend again almost immediately.

I don't think they eat air conditioners or pickup trucks but apparently they can sense the entropy around here and are hanging out in hopes something carbon-based is next.