MountainMornings

I must be blogging. But instead of typing contentedly in my cozy aviary office, I’ve moved my laptop to the kitchen table. Why, you may ask, after all those years reporting from a corner in my dining room would I move back into my home’s food court? Simple, it’s the heat!

Yesterday the temps were soaring in the 105 degree range…again, which meant my third floor office was hovering around 85 plus. The builders of our “not so big house” warned me; “You’ve got to put a ceiling fan up there Ma’am.” If you are over 30 in the South, you are automatically called Ma’am. I’m almost getting used to it. But did I listen to those men in tool belts? I was amused to hear their tales of deer and wild turkey sightings, and how if they had their way my office would be a gun turret. Of course not, a ceiling fan, no way. My concern was having a breeze on my neck. I didn’t want a breeze from a ceiling fan which would lead to a crook spasm in my neck and before you know it, a frozen shoulder! And no guys, we don’t allow even bow hunting on the property.

OK so I admit it. They were right. A ceiling fan in the South is like a mud room in New England. Not everybody has one, they are not a necessity, but boy does it make life easier. I have a friend who has to have a fan over her bed. She claims that she just cannot sleep since menopause hit without that little breeze. And we did install one on the sleeping porch; a last minute idea. It just seemed so natural to put a fan out there to mix up the scent of lilacs with the sounds of tree frogs on a hot summer night. And like most last minute ideas, it turned out to be absolutely perfect…like installing the built-in generator.

Some people in Albemarle County have been without power during this record-setting heat spell going on 6 or 7 days. In fact, so many lost their food from melting refrigerators and freezers that our local Food Pantry desperately needs donations – preferably canned or box foods. I’m packing up a box today to deliver. We only lost our power for a few hours, and our trusty generator just automatically started up. It saved my life during our second year in the house when Mother Nature dumped 2 snow storms on us measuring over 2 feet of snow and ice each time. Bob went to the hospital early and didn’t leave, which is what directors do when they know other docs won’t be able to dig their way out of their driveway and if they could, the roads were still buried. VA road crews were not prepared for the magnitude of those storms. I never could have lasted 7 days without power in the freezing cold, without that generator. Anyone thinking of building a house today, or renovating their existing house, I have just two things to say: 1) generator and 2) ceiling fans! Mercifully cooler temperatures are predicted this week. Since I wasn’t blogging back then, and to usher in the drop in temps, I thought you might like to see some pictures of Buddha and Bean in the historic snowfall.