100 degrees here

[willy]

Ok....... it's actually only 98 or so.  100 sounds so much hotter.  It's been so hot this summer.  Also dry.  Our grass is going dormant; It is light tan and you could just about set fire to it; getting pretty dry.  I went to the dump yesterday and still have lots of stuff to get rid of.  I've been pruning back trees, vines, and manicuring my weeds.  So I had a second full load of yard waste and I topped it off with a good amount of recycle steel.  My yard is cleaner and  bigger.  I am more tan than I have been in the last 25- 30 years I suppose.

This summer I am spending extra quality time with my loved one.  Of course, I am talking about my swimming pool.    We have a "little" 15 foot by 3 and a half foot deep swimming pool in our back yard.  I suppose that we have had it for 10 years.  Last year it went totally unused; it was a very very cool summer here.  I was moving and just too busy.  This year........ it is so sooo soooo hot and the pool is just a joy.  I just spent a half hour on an air mattress while the gentle current of the pool filter spun me slowly around.  We also swim at night.  Like tonight, it will still be 90 degrees at 9 pm.  It is still plenty hot at midnight.  We sometimes go out and cool off before bedtime.  It's great; no mosquitos late at night, a big moon overhead, quiet.  Just the noise of water and whatever quiet talk you might have with the kids.   Then you go to bed actually cold.

The pool has been a lot of work over the years but this summer it has repaid me.  It's really been a treat.  I can work outside and take lots of pool breaks between work.  YES!!  You can also drink hot hot coffee when it is 100 degrees and not sweat...... when you are standing..... well maybe crouching......  in water.

I usually run at night.  I have been busy and have been slacking off on this, but the other night I ran 3 and biked three miles.  The biking is not work at all.  I do it just to cool off and extend the pulse rate a little longer.  I then can jump in (gotta rinse off first; of course) and then "chill".  My goal is to trounce my past two years records in a fall 5k run.  This year I have no excuse; I have time and energy to do this.

The tomatoes are finally kicking into gear and I just harvested my first ones yesterday.  It will soon be time for endless tomatoes, salsa, gaspacho, or the simple pleasure of sliced tomatoes and corn on the cob.  Uh huh....... I've lots of black berry bushes that are just coming on too.  

Yes;  I love summer.

I hope that you are having a good one.

best,
willy

[Dude]

Tell me about it... I'm in Flori-hell, and the humidity is almost always at 100%, with temps in the 90's, climbing as the dog days creep along.

Ugh!

[Helen]

Oh GAWD! Same here Willy, I dont recall it EVER being this hot for this long of a time, today may be the hottest of the year they say, and it was so dry until last week, my grass and everyone elses was going dormant also, but last Thursday it finally started raining here, and 2 days in a row we  had major downpours, its rained everyday since, but just enough and usually at night so I dont have to water, the only bad thing is the humidity has really kicked in since it started to rain, feels like Im livin out by you Joris, Hubby and I have been on vacation the past week and a half, but we didnt make any plans because my father-in-law did finally pass away on June 30th, so we spent the first few days helping my mother-in-law get her house ready for sale,it was so hot and we were painting the outside.
she'll be moving to Denver, it sold pretty quick so.....anyway we also have a pool 18" by 4-1/2
and I'll tell ya I couldnt do the yardwork I do without it,
even though we have air, theres nothing like bringing down that body temp, by just jumping in, especially after you've been sweating and working in the yard all day, but our dog Homer uses it the most, he LOVES the pool and he knows how to climb up the ladder to get back out onto the deck so he has a great time and we dont have to worry about him scratching up the liner,
Sounds like we're living in pretty much parallell worlds
Willy, cuz we've been trimming tress and all that good stuff and my tan is pretty good too.   But boy I cant WAIT for fall, Im just really sick of this heat. I can only tolerate summer for a short time.
Stay Cool!  

[willy]

It could cool off a little, but I love summer.  It gets expensive though; air conditioning.  My kids seem to like the house too hot in the winter and too cold in the summer.  Wait till they start paying utility bills.  

I ran today.  Usually not till midnight, but it was 85 or so........ and it may not ever get that cold tonight.  We are forecasting 104 degrees here in Iowa, with all that good humidity.     I did 3 miles and it was closer to 90 when i got back.

That is when it is time to clean the pool (from the inside of the pool).  My 15 foot pool I take down and put up each year.  I "cheat" and have scooped the center so it is concave shaped and about 5 inches deeper than the outside.  This means that the crud tends to settle in the lower parts of the pool making it easier to clean.  I also made a solar pool heater which the filtered water instead of dumping back into the pool ends up running through 100 foot of black corrogated drainage tile.  It picks up about 1-2 degrees on its trip.  It also ends up dumping in at an angle which causes the water in the pool to spin.  This spinning current also has the effect of collecting the debris in the center and lowest area of the pool.  It make cleaning it very easy.  If it cleans itself..... you end up using less chemicals.  I sometimes wonder about the effects of pools on people.  I try to underchlorinate.  The water was turning a little hazy today though.  Other years...... there have been water bugs.  

It is a great way to cool off, chill out, zone out, and a great reward for working up a sweat outside.

Hmmmmm in addition to not mowing....... we have few mosquitos and nats this year.

Willy