Friday, July 03, 2015

Hot and Hotter



Nice to know the snow plowing rules for the Bonner County Banana Belt.  This sign appears near the Hope Community Center.  

It caught my eye during last evening's "beat the heat" escape from the house.  My sisters told me earlier that they had to say home to clean house and that the Schwan's man was coming.  

Bill stayed home, didn't clean house but did wait for the Schwan's man.

I don't know if Barbara and Laurie got their house cleaned up for company, but they did see the Schwan's man cuz he reported to Bill how much they liked last week's boat ride. 

They also took their own little escape from the usual thermal paralysis that takes over us North Idaho wusses long about 6 o'clock in the evening on these hot, hot days.  

They've got the neighborhood deer pictures on Facebook to prove it, including a photo of two nice bucks hobnobbing together in Gary Finney's pasture just up and across the road from the Lovestead.

In my case, thermal paralysis of the body and brain set in earlier than usual yesterday.  It might have something to do with 1.5-hour ride on the lawnmower, mostly in direct sunlight.  

By the time I finished that project, my inner drive had run short of fuel.  So, I lazed around in my house during part of the afternoon, went to town and soaked up air conditioning at Wal-Mart while buying buns and potato salad for the big barbecue tomorrow.

Then, I visited with my sisters who were nice enough to turn on their new air conditioner. When it came to dinner time back at home, I simply popped a Dijorno's pizza in the oven and told Bill when he came home that I wasn't in to cooking.  He seemed fine with that.

This daily heat sapping is getting kind of old; the weather people were saying that we might set a record for the most days in a row with 90 or above.  We've already set a couple of hot records, including last Sunday being the hottest ever for that date. 

All that said, I must say that my brain perked up and my funny bone went into action when I passed by the sign above.  

Another sign during the day also made me chuckle.  I saw it at a fireworks stand in the Wal-Mart Parking lot.  Right next to the big "Fireworks" sign, a smaller sign read, "No Smoking." 

Well, ya never know.  Folks in Hope could be expecting their snow to be plowed sometime during the night before the Fourth, while other folks who light up fireworks might be puffing on a cigarette while setting off their explosives. 

Anyway, it's hot, and when it's beastly hot in North Idaho, human minds can get a little unplugged from the rules, so signage to remind us can be helpful. 

While on my "beat the heat" trip with my sidekick Foster last night, I saw a case where some signage would have been nice.  

Nobody told that lone elk to stay out of their field of oats, and when there's no sign, a hungry elk is gonna do what a hungry elk's stomach tells it to do---eat the oats. 

My stops last night included a few minutes at the Trestle Creek Recreation grounds where I stood in warm lake water and a side trip to a new development on the lake shore.  

So far, no houses have appeared in the development, but it does appear that some infrastructure has opened the way.

For now, there's a very loaded-down cherry tree just going to waste AND no signs saying "DON'T PICK THE CHERRIES!"  Too bad for all the cherry pie possibilities for the big holiday. 

The views from that spot, on a hot July night, were pretty darned spectacular. 

By the time Foster and I got home, the air felt a little cooler.  The Schwan's man had come and gone and the Mariners were losing again.  Some things seldom change, regardless of the temperature. 

Holiday weekend company has already started showing up in various venues and will continue to arrive.  In a couple of cases, I still haven't seen 'em, so I'd better change that situation today.

Happy Friday.   Another hot one in store. 










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