A heat wave in Eugene

To any and all who might care, I arrived safely in Eugene this afternoon after just under 9 hours of driving -- including a brief grocery stop. That's about 500 miles, per Google. More from actual address to actual address (rather than just Napa to Eugene).

It was an easy day, the car seemed healthy, and the AC worked great. But I was totally and completely bushed by the time I arrived. My landlady helped me get all the stuff out of the car (and it darned near filled the cottage up!), and I didn't do much to put anything away. First thing, I got the air mattress filled because that was the only thing that was really important.

The place is smaller than I remember, but still nice and livable. The garden has grown by leaps and bounds -- barely recognizable. I haven't wandered through it yet to see what's there. Some of my stuff is still on the deck, and I don't even care! I strung my string backpacking hammock rather quickly, too, but it was much too hot to use it for quite awhile. I guess the weirdest thing is to be back around neighbors -- haven't had any of that for the past 3 months, but it'll become the norm soon enough. I'm probably going to have to change my sleeping hours -- to bed later and, hopefully, up later. People sensibly wait until the cool of the evening to get out and do yard work -- some quietly, some with noisy machines. That'll become the norm, too.

Wouldn't you know I'd arrive here in a heat wave? Go figure! I had forgotten all those hot stuffy nights in my apartment in Corvallis, as well as the one in Eugene (although that one had AC).  Those places were stuffy and almost unbearable. Unfortunately, today was one of those days and the forecast doesn't show any improvement in the near future and despite all the windows, this place was also unbearably hot earlier. Alas. This is the first bad heat I've felt all summer! Even though it was around 100 a couple of times in Santa Rosa, our house was cool even without using the AC. Lots more breezes there to flow through the windows, too.

I expect it's going to take a few days for the body to adjust to this new reality. All windows and doors open all night, but I'll close them during the day to keep heat out. That worked really well in Georgia, so I hope it works here, too. A box fan or two in the windows is going to be a necessity at night, I think. One to draw the cool air in, the other to push the hot air out. Works like a charm!

I really would like to go to bed -- really pooped. But it's too hot yet. Whine. I'll adjust, however, and it'll be just fine.