113F Here Today
I am back in Visalia, CA. ONE HUNDRED AND THIRTEEN!!! It has been getting hotter and hotter and drier and drier. We have had only one short shower since March. So, the water council has asked us to use less water because it is so hot that people are using more power to run their air conditioners The water people will use their own generators a couple of days a week so the grid can pull more power to cool off the hot people. Sharing!
Did that make sense?
So basically we need to use less water – yes the Colorado River and all the lakes she feeds is in grave danger – AND now we are to use less power. Less power / less water. My kind of song. Totally doable. Makes sense right?
And because I like things to be measured it is 15% less water and use it at night.
As I write it is 109F/43C. So dog and I are not going outside today. My walk was fast this morning.
In three weeks I am wandering back to Home Base, The Farmy. I am going to focus on planting trees to cover all my travel. My jungle is my personal carbon sink. It’s been a while since I was at the Farmy but this is how my life is now. I am going to keep going round and round all my families so I stay in touch with everyone. The string on my balloon has been cut.
I refuse to conform. I am involved with my families now. Right up to the neck. And they don’t all live down the road so I am back travelling. I am so looking forward to seeing Our John and the farm. Next in the rotation.
I have a new part time job! Working with and tutoring for a new company that is beaming reading tutors into classrooms to address literacy struggles in our young ones. One on One online reading tutoring for 15 minutes every day. Same kid, same tutor, same time, every day.
I can take this job anywhere and teach from anywhere.
This is another job I can get passionate about! Reading fluency in 1st to 3rd graders in 2022 is roughly 30% behind previous years. In the US some of the schools were closed for almost 18 months and I am up for supporting the teachers and these kids any way I can!
As well as the teaching there is a lot of daily paid training, because I naturally create teams, I have collected a group of new tutors into my own team to work on stuff, we zoom daily as well and I feel plugged back in! It is great to be back in the game.
Bio-needs is my new word! “Remember to take care of your bio-needs.” Awesome!
Have a great day!
C
33 Comments on “113F Here Today”
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thekitchensgarden 
Good to see you so excited about things. Look forward to hearing about the animals at the farm. I am north of you outside Sacramento it is at least 115 as i write this. Scary hot, scary lack of water. Lived here all my life, 8th generation Californiano, things are different for those with eyes to see.
We have been so careful today – there is already a warning out that the power may be turned off tonight. So – of course – we all plugged our phones in!
We have little solar powered phone charger for hiking so we can charge our phone when we don’t have a plug and it holds the charge for a long time too. It just charges as we hike out sit in the sun. It is very useful, got it at an outdoor store.
Huh! How long does it take to charge your phone? Or do you just keep your phone plugged into it when you are hiking? What brand is it? I have used a few and found them hopeless. I need a good recommendation!
So glad to see your post and to be caught up on life C. I dropped Instagram awhile ago so have not seen any news. I bet that cold river water was amazing. Love the photo of the young climber- grandchild I assume? It will be good to see the farmy soon. I have so missed the stories of life there. Keep well and stay hydrated.
Yes! That is the Canadian grandchild! I miss the Farmy too – I wish my family lived close to the Farmy.
Do take great care,you and your family. Horrible , this extreme heat. How can people not realize climate change is happening.
Your new jobs sound like your strength. You will do so much good to help all these children. You and your team .Bravo!
Stay well and have safe travels.
Your families must be so much better for all your visits.
The heat has abated here with a little rain – it’s not enough yet, but it’s increasing. There’s a big thing for heat pumps now, that take the hot from inside and make it cold and vice versa. I’m a little synical about it, but supposedly the good ones are very energy efficient. There is a natural phenomenon, known about since ancient times, where people use simple terracotta jugs (botijos) to cool water. Condensation on the outside cools the water on the inside. It sounds mad, but it works!
Those heat pumps. My sons have them in NZ. The only thing is that when they go off so does the heat. I really like the idea of heat sinks – heated by the sun – I love the idea of designing for the low winter sun when you need the wall to heat. The terra-cotta jugs sound interesting.
I really miss Europe.
How wonderful you had that literacy course you completed a while back up your sleeve! It is a wonderful gift to impart. It is not easy to not to be everywhere at once. We feel similarly, but at least our distances are within the same country, so our catch ups happen incrementally. I’m wondering what southern hemisphere summer will bring, as I note what’s happening across the northern hemisphere. 43 C… no-one needs too many days of that!
So glad to hear about the job; such a good match by the sound of it. The heating is severe, and you clearly describe the links between power-heat-water. I guess the farmy will be extra hot, away from the coast.
Lovely upbeat post, despite the appalling climate change conditions. It’s been the same in the uk with extreme Summer temperatures reaching nearly 40C. There is now a distinct feeling of Autumn in the air first thing in the morning and even a little rainfall at last, though too late to save so many trees. The new job sounds a perfect match for you, a brilliant strategy for these times. It has been so good for you and your families to have done all that catching up and on it goes too, brilliant. BUT, SO looking forward to some tales from the farmy. Andy x
sounds like great new things in your life and so awful about the climate and effect
We often take our basic necessities such as air and water for granted. Mother Nature is giving us all a little reminder that we must take care of our planet and her resources. I hope all is well in your corner.
Your new job sounds wonderful and rewarding. You are making a difference! Looking forward to seeing a few pictures of the farmy soon.
I am looking forward to the Farmy too. I need a bit of a rest!
We’re coming to the end of winter down here, and it has been unseasonably wet for the Dry season. I wish I could share some of the rain we got over our 2 week break in Far North Queensland. Too early for the start of storm season, interfering with the sugar cane harvest, but we’re Australians – we’ll take the water however we can. I’m so happy you’ve found a ‘portable niche’ to carry with you on your travels. Technology’s wonderful until it isn’t, but it opens so many doors and offers so many opportunities that didn’t exist before. I’m glad you’re embracing it with enthusiasm.
Yes! It is a little unsettling if I focus on it but any family with little ones is grateful for a mobile housekeeper and nannie. And I am grateful for so many homes to land in.
We had that insane heat last year and it was awful. It’s still unseasonably warm here at the moment, too. Anyway–I am excited for your new job. It sounds perfect. And I adore the way you live your life any way you damn well please. An inspiration to all of us.
Yup! Any way I damn well please.!!
Oh my word that heat! It’s wonderful that you are able to see your children at last. I’m very lucky mine all live local. I hope the temperature starts to come down soon.
The summer here in NE Florida has been incredibly hot. I can’t remember ever having a summer where we have had SO many 90+degree days and rain nearly every day for the last 2+ months. Like a steam bath. And the oven is normally on for multiple hours each day so….our power bill has also been crazy high!
Congrats on the new gig – it sounds perfect for your travel life! Try to stay cool-ish, we’re all hoping summer will be over very soon!
Wow! 90 plus AND rain sounds very tropical. You are having a wet season. Do you have mold and mildew? Or is the AC Keeping up with that?
AC keeps up pretty well for us since it’s only a couple years old. But yes, there is always mold and mildew…use lots of shower cleaner with bleach, and the sidewalks and pavers need to be pressure washed regularly to keep the green from growing on them! Having lived in Arizona for decades there was an adjustment to how wet things are here!
At least you are not short of water for the pressure washing!
Oh my- stay cool- it is very scary how the water situation is- take care! xoxo
Hello! We had torrid heat this summer and last while in France…and I was amazed to see how well our house performed if we followed certain rules. They have very thick stone walls and if I monitored windows, doors and shades to keep intense heat and light out, the house felt—not lying here—air conditioned. I also did all cooking in the morning and kept lights off. Amazing to feel so OK without AC. LOVE your tutoring! I would love to do that too. xxxx
Love that your old building could show its secrets like that! The walls in these modern suburban buildings are so thin you could cut through them with a box cutter..
It’s true…it’s a weird sensation. I feel loved and protected by the walls. By the past that was wise enough to build for the ages. No box cutters will bring down that house! I also secretly love that we have to live smarter, better, with less. It’s about (expletive) time! Happy you are set free, on your wings again. I also love the concept of living with your families (plural)…overlapping circles. Circulating among the circles. A great new/old concept again. No matter where you are, I love checking in on your life. The Farmy was the starting point, but wherever you take the story is fine with me! x
Yes! Those circles !! I have lived a far away life for so long. Time to change my tune and live a close up one.
Nice to hear you are up to exciting work and family stuff! Such heat, would be hard to put up with. I remember as a child laying in the cool cement floor in the basement to cool off. No a/c then. The cool relief provided by trees is so valuable. I’m sure your place at the Farmyard is well reserved. I have 2 sons with wives and families, 2 sons for the oldest and 1 son and another on the way in February for the youngest son. Every day is a new adventure. I wish you well.
Hi , your new job sounds rewarding and right up your alley. I’m very happy you are getting your soul fed and filled with your children and “grands” ! I’m happy to pay a visit to The Farmy. It seems like awhile since we were there. Safe travels as you go…..Barbie
Thank you Barbie! Almost back to the farm- just one more week!