Published September 5, 2024

One weather service says we’ll hit 101 today. That means 103 or 104, probably, based on its track record. Another app says we’ll come close to triple digits today but won’t get there until Friday.

My little buddy there in the photo is working overtime trying to keep up.

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Can you imagine that in my first five summers in the Pacific Northwest, I got by without it? That’s impossible now. I need it, and an elaborate cooling system, just to keep my medications from losing their efficacy. Times like these remind me that when I drove from Louisiana to Oregon 14 years ago to start a new life, the high temperature in my new home that first day was 100 degrees.

That was the warning shot, I suppose. Welcome.

Anyway, the people who love to lecture about relying on air conditioning are at it again. I haven’t got the time for them. I haven’t got the time for anyone who can’t imagine an existence different than their own, a body different than their own, circumstances different than their own, and who flaunt their ignorance in their proclamations.

Tapering is forecast to start Saturday and continue into Wednesday, when a string of days with highs in the low or mid-70s is expected to begin. Can I bank on that being the start of a semblance of an autumn, feels-like edition? A girl can dream.

Wherever you are, stay cool. Or warm. Or hot. Whatever’s best for you.