Heffalump Hot
What dreadful hot weather we have! It keeps me in a continual state of inelegance.
- Jane Austen
It's crap hot again today. Europe wasn't built for this kind of heat. I am ever so elegantly seated at my desk in the office with my shoes off and a fan 12 inches from my face. Empty plastic water bottles on the desk, floor, near the trash bin (failed 3-pointers), on my side table, on the 'guest' chair. Like some sort of water junkie's been hiding in here.
I am on the verge of buying one of these Belgian air conditioners. They look like heffalumps - waist high, giant lumps with round expandable exhaust pipes that flop out of the back of the machines. They are completely hideous and you have to find a perfectly round exit hole for the 400' degree heat that comes out of the exhaust pipe. And I mean SERIOUSLY hot environmentally damaging processed scorching air. They look like an appliance from the 50's. - or one of those dishwashers that you can roll up to the kitchen sink and plug in to the tap.
These babies don't fit nicely in a window like the ones in the states - they sit on the floor like a big useless side tables and generate mildly cool air. The issue is that over here, there's not really a standard window size. So many buildings have the original old window frames and new constructions have all sorts of square and rectangular units which flip this way and that - none of the vertical up and down variety where you can snugly fit an A/C unit. No one has perfectly round exit holes for the exhaust in the side of their houses and apartments - so if people have a heffalump, they have them hanging out of windows with all manner of cardboard and plastic and tape closing the gaps - no point in cooling the air off if you're letting in hot air at the same time. Or worse, piped back in to the hallway or stairwell - seriously.
I saw one apartment where the owners deliberately broke the window glass on their front window to make a reasonable exhaust hole for their heffalump. They have taped the rest of the cracked window together and it looks rather tentative. Really attractive too, I must say. And ever so safe...it's only above the busiest bakery in the neighbourhood - no worries there...
Hmm. There's a cat door already installed in my kitchen. It's round and would work p-e-r-f-e-c-t-l-y! Bunny Dog would love it! He could go about his usual daily routine of sleep, sleep, wait for his dog walker, go for walk, drink water, sleep, sleep some more, afternoon nap, sleep, start waiting for me to come home etc. - and he would be as cool as a cucumber. Instead of doing all that panting and drinking tons of water. (he's ok on the cool tiles downstairs) But still, I won't buy it.
What's stopping me you say?
1. As much as I am suffering in this heat, it's Belgium. It's not going to last long. One day in mid-August you will hear and smell a weird feeling in the air - and you will know, that winter is coming. Happens every year.
2. Because these things give off an alarming amount of heat in the effort to cool people down, it seems to be a terrible waste - does it make sense to sizzle more ozone just to stay a bit cooler? (For sick and elderly - yes)
3. These things are fugly. Really bad looking things - and I don't have room for another lump of an appliance in my kitchen - yeesh
On the way home, I am going to stop at Metroshop. It's a paradise. It's got ALL Sorts of wild stuff. Like a mixture between a really well stocked Rite Aid and a PX - never know what's going to be in there next time you go. And it's right at the Metro so you can get your stuff and hop on the subway -easy peasy. I want a really big plastic container - big enough to act like a mini wading pool for Bunny dog and me and but NOT an actual wading pool which would attract the attention of the screaming monkey children next door....
Who's up for a bit of wading in cool water in the garden tonight?
:-))
Lobster Daze
I had a surprise in the mail yesterday. My Rick Stein DVDs arrived. I love Rick Stein. He's a Chef who has done a bunch of awesome series on TV in UK. He's a bonafide star on the Beeb (BBC). And he's my absolute favourite. He built his reputation and empire on fish cookery. He's a champion for fresh locally caught fish. He owns several incredible restaurants in Padstow on the Cornish coast - well, at this point, he and his wife and his company own pretty much all of Padstow.
Rick Stein gets so excited and passionate about food. The freshness, the simplicity, the importance of well cooked, simple ingredients. It's not unusual for him to stop and read classic literature or quote a famous lover of art and life when he's talking about food.
Anyway - I have hours of Rick Stein at my leisure. I am supposed to wait until I go home to DC for a visit and share them with Mom - but who cares, I could watch him over and over again. What's that noise Homer Simpson makes when he sees doughnuts? Something like .... Aghghlghllgh drool drool. That's me and my Rick Stein. oh, this lobster dish he made in one episode of his
Seafood Odyssey Series - he makes his own Indian masala paste - with roasted red peppers, a bit of tamarind water, lime juice, cumin, coriander, black pepper, and cayenne - whooshes up to a paste in the processor. He heats some ground nut oil in a pan, tosses in a great big blop of the paste, cooks it until it splits and adds the meat from a cooked lobster which has been cut in to chunks. He tosses it around and gets the lobster meat well coated. Then he stuffs the meat back in to the half shells (which have been warmed in the oven) and serves. It's so yummy looking.
I stayed up late last night watching an instalment of his
Britain's Food Heroes series.
I would be glued to Rick Stein tonight also, but I am going out. Bunny Dog and I are meeting the lovely Lara for a drink. Lara's birthday is in a couple days so we will have her pressie in hand. Oh, and - Watch out men. We are in the mood.
It's still hot as an oven here and I do hope it will cool off this evening. I can't take much more of this. I am melting in to my office chair - well, kinda. I m sticking with my wet paper towel routine - so what if I look like a freak with wet paper towel plastered to my arms and forehead - it makes me feel freshie.
Dreaming of Lobster
Hottie
Sweet baby Jesus and the orphans - it's hot over here! And it's a hot like 'DC hot' except without air conditioning - at all.
I went over to the mall at lunch to try and cool off in some of the stores - I had already tried the grocery store in the basement of the mall - There were quite a few of us hanging around the freezer section too long - keeping the doors open, making the chocolate mousse ice cream sandwiches melt. So they kind of shooed us out - made like they really had to unpack stock right then and there. yeah, right...
It's the kind of hot where nothing is cool enough to cool you down. Like your core temperature is overheated and about to blow. My fan blows warm air on me - when there's a breeze, it's warm, used up, hot, waste air.
Bunny Dog is hopefully cooler at home - the downstairs floor is tiled and usually quite cool in Summer - well, it was before they cut the trees. Now I go home at the end of the day and it's only a degree or two cooler than outside - still, it's something. Bunny Dog has water in three places in the house. I figure he will drink until he's hydrated and lie on the tiles trying to keep cool. He's also got fans on - I am extra conservative when it's not so hot - I need to use all the fans when it is. He's been putting his paws in his water bowl after his midday walk and printing the house with paw marks - lovely. Show's how hot his little feet get.
I think about one of my first blogs done in January - when it was so cold I could see my breath in the middle of the night while lying in bed. I purchased this kick-ass heater that made me feel as if the sun was right in my bedroom. I could get warm then. I could get results.
Wet paper towel on the forehead is nice. On the arms, nice, on my neck, nice. I let the wet paper get cool in the breeze of the fan and then plaster it to myself. I wish there was an open fire hydrant outside the office. I could use a break to tip toe in cool water. Are there fire hydrants in Brussels?? No, I think they're underground...
I whinge about the heat, but that's not fair. What about the elderly people sitting alone in baking-hot apartments with no respite from the heat at all? - Without the strength and money to do something about it. I have water, I have means. I will be fine. What do I know about suffering, going without water, being hot and dirty all the time? I know nothing of that. There's a local community service which supplies fans and water to those in need. I think I will stop by there on the way home tonight. I can afford to help.
A shout-out to my friend Ed - who is tasked with documenting the horrors of yet another Tsunami in Indonesia. Ed takes pictures of people - he helps us understand the depths of grief, sadness and desperation people experience in this harsh world - while at the same time, he captures the essence of human nature - the willingness of humans to endure, love and heal. Thanks and be careful Ed.
Pain in the leg
I spent the bulk of Saturday upside down. Think downward facing dog or sun power plough or whatever position a la yoga. Well, not exactly yoga - yard work.
Saturday I bought a lawn mower - a fancy push mower - which - oddly was more expensive than some electric models - but didn't require 14 other parts (sold separately) to operate. I mowed the lawn - not the best job admittedly - who knew there was an adjustable knob for grass length? Let's just say - it's Marine cut in some places, a bit Woodstock -y in others.
Anyway - after mowing, I realised the border had to be done. I was not going to splash out again for a weed whacker. NO way. Scissors worked just fine thank you. Hunched over, I snipped my way around the edge a few times trying to get the ends even with the centre. Once that was done, it hardly seemed right to ignore the weeds in the raised bed on the side - Or to ignore the weeds in the cobblestone cracks. Thought I might as well trim the boxwoods also. So I bent down and snatched up weeds here and there and slowly made my way around the whole garden.
OK - I do cardio aerobics or metabolism booster aerobics at least 5 times per week now (yes, I do). And I do yoga at least 2 times a week. I have played a softball catcher for upwards of 11 years - scrunched down in a squat in the heat. I have lived in Europe for 6 years - walked all over the place and done stairs stairs stairs. I have done other activities I would consider to be quite strenuous and semi double jointed with no issues afterwards. So how come I can barely walk after 4 hours of yard work? So crazy!
Of course, because I was in pain - I had to have a mini crisis that required that I move around and strain myself.
That silly bird got stuck in my garden again. As usual, Bunny Dog found him first. (In which case I have to get him outta there fast - not that Bunny Dog is blood thirsty or anything - he's just curious...) I really think it's the same bird I've 'rescued' several times before - and transplanted to the park down the road. It's got to be. Same wonky wings, same inability to steer, same little chirp, same size, same colour - everything. Same 'mother' bird chirping at me - full volume from the tree-top next door.
The little guy can't get any height when he flies and once he gets in to my garden, he can't get enough height to get over the walls - even taking off from the far end of the yard is not enough. He flies really well at waist height, but that's it. After several attempts - I enlisted the help of my neighbour to capture the little guy and put him in the 'bird box' that Bunny Dog and I keep in a drawer in the front hallway for just this occasion. Bunny Dog is relegated to the windowsill inside during this operation. He would just make things more difficult. He's trying to 'protect me' from the bird of course, but would also try to 'tooth' it a bit just to check out it's bird-y texture - as I said - he's curious like that.
Once the bird was in the box, Bunny Dog and I walked to the park a few blocks away. I released him in to a wooded section filled with medium level trees and plenty of branches. He flew a little higher than usual and landed on a solid branch. There, done. Like a wounded soldier whose strained weary muscled have no rest, I hobbled home again. My legs even more exhausted from the excitement.
This morning I woke to less pain, but still noticeable discomfort. Now thinking I have some strange virus which is attacking my nervous system. No - it's just Monday. Sometimes Mondays feel like that
Bunny Dog and I went for his morning walk at 6:30 - me hobbling a bit, him running and prancing and playing in the expanse of green under the big oak trees. Bunny Dog finished his morning routine and came along side to slip his head in to his leash - and guess what? The darned bird landed right at our feet. Now - to explain how weird this is - we were about 200 yards from where I let the bird go free. And frankly, I didn't have a hope that this tiny guy would make it much past a few hours in the park. Here he was - 9 hours later, having survived the night. Landing right at our feet. How do you like that??
I looked around, there were plenty of other walkers and dogs about - why did the darned bird land in front of us? Bunny Dog shook his head at me and sighed.
Well, it's some sort of sign innit?? But I ain't taking the damned bird back home. I ain't.
OK - if we see the bird again - if it
clearly presents itself to us again, I will do something. I am not sure what I will do, but I promise to do something.
Anyway - getting towards the end of Monday - will go home and do a toned down version of my work-out so as not to re-injure myself. Tonight Bunny Dog and I will go to the other park to be safe...
PS - Thanks to MvdG and ST for a lovely evening on Friday - we know how to laugh when we are together don't we?
What's New
I was so busy with work and life I didn't have a chance to write over the last couple weeks - not a good excuse I know. But there has to be something that piques my writing interest enough to set aside some time and tell you about it.
I was in Dublin Tuesday and Wednesday for work. I was lucky enough to have time for a wander downtown Tuesday evening near St. Stephen's Green, Trinity college and the surrounding area. Dublin was lovely. Sunny, breezy, cool, hip, fashionable, cutting-edge, worn, soft, lively, quirky, traditional, new and old. Nice.
I wish Sio had been with me. Musicians lined the streets and jammed for the passing tourists and locals anchored at popular bars- with their creamy foam-topped pints of Guinness. The trees groaned with heavy lush green leaves and it felt as if the city was draped with a green dappled light shawl.
I revelled in the Marks and Spencer's food hall. Spoiled for choice of prepackaged gourmet, fresh, well done food. Bought my favourite spring onion crackers to take home and serve at the next dinner party.
I remember a group of students wandering along a row of pubs. One girl in a short denim skirt, black tights and gold ballet slippers. Oddly that image stays in my mind more than any other over the last few days.
Home to a happy dog last night. He spent two days with the lovely Lara who was kind enough to dog-sit while I was away. She's patient and sweet yet stern so he has a lot of respect for her and whines appropriately when she leaves - leaving him with me - alone at home. Back to the daily struggle for both of us. Who's in control? The dog or me? I'd like to think it's me but I know better.
Now what to do with this stuff....After two years I have a garden problem I never thought I would have. I have too much grass! Until May of this year, I had 5 huge trees in my garden and the ground hardly saw the light of day. I spent a lot of money over the years on trying to get the grass to grow. I even pressured my friend Marnix into trucking out turf and laying it two years ago. The turf died, nothing would ever take hold and grow. I used super-duper grass seed - developed extra strong for growing in shaded areas.
Since the landlord chopped the trees down, the grass has grown like weeds - and the weeds have grown like, well, weeds! My garden is a mess. And I have to break down and do something I hadn't planned on doing. Buy a lawn mower. For 30 square meters of grass.... I will have to get one of those heavy duty plastic ones that fold up - that's all I need!!
Should be funny though. Problem is - I was sort of thinking about a strimmer too. You know, like a weed whacker thing. The guys at the local hardware store are going to get a kick out of me this Saturday.
I don't often say this - but I need a guy to help this weekend. I also need a cabinet door re-hung. I would make a super dinner to thank him....
Dad is still frail and not eating properly. My Nephew Jason who is a trained EMT is down there helping Mom and Dad indefinitely. He promises me that Dad will get stronger - it will just take some time. I will visit early September and spend some quality time with him.
