hot puppy

It’s wickedly hot here. For May, and for the Pacific Northwest.

Although it was snowing just a month ago, the mercury hit 87-degrees (F) yesterday, and has passed 97 today. I’ve finally broken down and turned on the AC — mostly for my poor husky puppy, who has been clinging to me, panting and whimpering most of the afternoon.

I had central air put into the house shortly after I moved in. Most homes here in Portland don’t have air-conditioning — for the most part, it’s unnecessary — though it does feel like it’s getting a bit warmer here a bit sooner each summer. As an eco-conscious gal, I dislike even having AC — much less using it — but it’s becoming more and more of a necessity, even though I use it sparingly. Turning it on before it’s even June really doesn’t make me feel good.

My last full year in Richmond, Virginia, it first hit the 90-degree mark in April. Our last over-90-degree day that year was in October, so we effectively had six months of summer. Both the heat and humidity were getting harder and harder for me to take, and each summer I spent increasingly long hours and days lying around on the bed — even with the AC running — because I simply couldn’t function. When I get hot, I run fevers and get sick to my stomach — thanks to some problems with heat exhaustion when I was a teenager.

One summer in Richmond — I think it was 1995 — we had an atrocious heat wave that lasted about three days. I was living in an old house without AC and not much in the way of window ventilation, either. I remember spending the entire weekend lying on the floor, with my cat and Alaskan husky stretched out nearby. Occasionally, I’d get up to change out the water bowls and ice cube trays I’d set in front of the box fans. I was exhausted and dehydrated, but I was still better off than being outside.

A move to the cooler weather of the Pacific Northwest greatly appealed to me, with its mild, dark days and frequent rainfall. Even the winters are easier here — though it first snowed in November, and then again last month…. Five months of winter?

Yesterday’s high temperatures took me by surprise, and not in a good way. But I had fair warning that we’d be even hotter today. I got as much work done before 10:30 a.m. as I could, then ran errands before my brain officially melted — but I was already sweating by 8 a.m., and we cracked 80 degrees soon after 9. I bought every popsicle mold Bed Bath & Beyond had in stock, and — as I type — I have orange juice, cran-grape, limeade and Dr. Pepper popsicles setting in the freezer.

The cats were first curled up in dark corners of the house, but in the afternoon have taken to stretching out across the floor. I’ve been unable to think all that straight and so was just lounging on the couch, having a rather unpleasant pseudo-dream about being alone in a mini-sub that was being attacked by a shark. Maybe something I could turn into a screenplay for the Sci-Fi Channel.

It’s getting later in the afternoon, but the heat is holding. I thought I could just hang out on the couch and try my best not to move until after sunset. But my dog was increasingly in distress. This poor Siberian-wolf has a thick fur coat she can’t take off. It’s nearly 90-degrees inside the house right now, and it could take a while for the cooling system to really have an impact, but at least it’s getting better for her.

That’s the hot and steamy report for this afternoon.