Havin' a Heat Wave...

Okay, so I spent a week in July on a road trip through Idaho to Grand Tetons National Park with my kids, two friends, and a friend's seven year old. Six people, two cars, three adults, three kids under ten, and a partridge in a pear tree. And that was HOT. Like 105 degrees look what melted in my snack bag are we really getting out of the car to see that kind of hot. When we had been home about a week, Seattle had a heat wave which we're still in (today was day 4? I think?) And in Seattle, heat waves are like 90-94. A little hotter down at dad's where we were yesterday.

So in reality, it's not been awful. We've gone down to the creek to play, been in sprinklers, that kind of thing. It's not awful in the shade if you regularly get wet to cool down. Not like places we were.

But I like living here because I like being outside in the summer. Other places that regularly live with this kind of heat people don't go outside. And I'm going nuts. Yes, I've read plenty of books. My kids have watched plenty of TV. We've eaten plenty of ice cream. But I'm ready to go back to playing in parks, going on wanders, running around outside. You know...summer stuff. And there hasn't been enough of that. Not to mention that the regular and increasing heat waves we've been having is just another reminder that the direction the planet is going in...is not an awesome one.

So yep. Depressing stuff today.

I did learn a lot about Idaho. Most of the trip we followed the Snake River valley and while there are definitely stretches of Idaho that are boring as sin, there were lovely spots and interesting history and geology. However, the prettiest place is the one we came back to, which is a reminder I probably needed.

Media consumption: well, I've been rewatching Friends with some Seinfeld thrown in so that should show you where my head is. I've also been reading a lot of young adult books. Today I finished one called Camp by L C Rosen about a gay summer camp, which scratched the itch of a camp book I've been feeling for awhile. And a beautiful older book called The First Part Last about a teen father that had me in tears. I also have been trying to read a graphic novel a week and this week it was the graphic novel of Between Shades of Gray by Ruta Sepytys, an historical fiction young adult book I read in June about the deportations out of the Baltic states under Stalin. Horrible stuff, beautifully written. Also, did I mention I was reading Wuthering Heights this summer? THAT'S an adventure. Happy birthday, Emily Bronte!

Today I'm grateful for my hammock, my husband, my dishwasher, the park by the creek, air conditioning in the car, cold beverages, books, podcasts, and Popsicle baths. The kids' new favorite thing :)