It is a rare week in summer that I don't have to water the crops at least two or three times. Vacations, work, everything is scheduled with watering in mind. Skip your scheduled watering day when the weather happens to be really hot, you'll probably get some wilt...skip two of them and things are completely dead when you come back. Trust me on that one. I've learned the hard way.
But the past three days have been freakish, as I have not had to water, we've had three inches of rain and the humidity levels are currently hovering at about 85 percent. There's very little dust on the furniture and my hair has decided to make a break for it and style itself into a lovely (or not) soft frizz. Even my bangs are frizzy. On the positive side, everything also feels slightly damp and so dust has not been an issue, as it usually is in these parts.
Saturday night was the worst as far as weather. We had a genuine midwest-style lightning storm, and were incredibly worried about brush fires until the rain started a couple of hours later, and kept going for another 12 hours. With our parched and dry land, that two inches of rain was gratefully soaked up by every plant and animal in the area. The lightning storm, while beautiful, was also pretty scary since we live on a hilltop, but we did occasionally step outside to watch the splendor.
But there was no sleep to be had that night, as the thunder shook the walls and the lightning strobed us every few seconds. The next day, we found a water pipe in our pasture (near a metal windmill) burst, and we suspect lightning. Big Ag said a huge oak tree in one of his vineyards came down, crushing a half-row of vines along with it. It also struck a generator that runs a well. So it's a trade-off, in a sense. With storms, come damage. But I'd say the positives far outweigh the negatives at this point. We'll take any water we can get.
But this 85 percent humidity is something else...honestly, I don't know how all of you in the midwest and back east deal with it. I'm sure all that green is lovely,and truly, I am envious. But the frizzy bangs? That's a whole other story, and for having to deal with that on a regular basis, you have my deepest sympathies.
Oh, to live without humidity, the 3 days we get in Dec. & Jan. would be wonderful. I loved CA for the very reason that humdity is a rare occasion. I'm sure your bangs will recover, maybe.
ReplyDeleteThe humidity is supposed to drop starting today, so I hope so. Guess I can never move to a humid state unless I want to shave my head!
Deletehaha! How funny is this-our rain stopped and it's been 76, sunny, and no humidity! We are so enjoying this. Well, they key is humidity resistant hair products. A little more smoothing cream than usual, leave in conditioner, or my favorite-Surface shine spray. It's all about creating a barrier between your hair and the air. If your hair is saturated to begin, it will be less likely to absorb moisture from the air. Then, a shield of workable hairspray when it's dry. Hairspray really is essential out here. But I assure you, with a lifetime of big hair as proof, it is not an impossible battle :)
ReplyDeleteWe are lucky here as it's usually been wet enough that storms don't cause that much damage. Thunderstorms are really only dangerous when things have gotten scary dry. As it makes the hardwood trees much more likely to snap. As an oak did over my beautiful Saab convertible in 2012 (RIP). good luck! I hope the animals weren't too scared by this very crazy weather! You know most Midwesterners love falling asleep to thunderstorms. But I could totally see how they're unsettling in your situation. How incredible you got three inches!
It really was amazing, our highest rainfall for the month -- the entire month -- of July was .48 inches, and here we got about three inches in 12 hours. Luckily, the humidity is coming down now, or I'd have to be learning a whole new way of life, new hair products, trying to dry clothes outside in humidity, keeping the house from feeling damp, etc. But how sad about your convertible! Really, I'm sad when any tree dies, but to take out a beloved car in the process....even worse.
DeleteLuckily, the tree lives on! It's a huge white oak. The branch that attacked the Saab was a minor branch to the structure of the tree. A 16 inch diameter minor branch. It had quite a force dropping from about 70 feet above.
DeleteWow! Kind of like the whomping willow in the Harry Potter books lol.
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