Zoo Thunder Outages and AC

Summer has arrived, and it's muggy and hot. Luckily, a simple routine keeps the house cool for most of the day: go to bed with all the windows open, then close up the house by 10 a.m. If it's not too muggy, the house stays comfortable until the day cools off, near sunset, then the windows all get opened, the ceiling fans get turned on, and the evening is balmy and pleasant.

Thunderstorms rolled in last night, lightning silently flashing between clouds, illuminating the skies.

When things get muggy, like today, the heat index can add 10 degrees to the real temperature, and 90º feels like 100º. On these days, closing up the house has to be augmented with the air conditioner, keeping the house cool and removing the oppressive humidity. Today was really the first day that we've had those conditions.

But with the weather constantly changing, even the most unpleasant conditions don't last long, unlike Southern California, where heat waves can last for days and days.

June 8 & 9

Butterfly sitting on the back porch screen

These were rumination days. This is walking around, staring at things, grouping framed art (family pictures, Steve & me, small filler pieces, grouped images); moving tchotchkes around, and making lists of things that should be there but aren't (mostly things I don't have). 

By Thursday evening, I had a good list made up, and I had intended on doing a shopping trip on Friday to get stuff at Menard's, but Pam texted me on Wednesday, inviting me along on a Friday trip to the zoo in Madison. It's a two-hour drive, but Pam was in the back seat with Natalie, wrapping piping rope with fabric and glue, so Natalie was distracted for the entire trip.

Giraffes are the biggest
animals in the zoo.

The zoo was free, but I dropped $10 in the donation box. It was probably 80º and muggy, so it felt more like 90º. Luckily, there was a lot of shade available from large mature trees.

The camels don't seem exotic.

It's a small zoo but they made a good effort to have a natural habitat feel to the installations. There was a lion and lioness, a tiger, two giraffes, two camels, pink flamingoes, a smattering of primates and miscellaneous mammals.

More kinds of animals on the carousel than in the zoo.

There was also a play area, complete with a carousel and a kiddie train (which are probably a significant income source for the zoo). Natalie took some time playing in play area, then Pam took her onto the carousel. Afterwards, we quickly ushered her past the train, and we were off to find the otters (Natalie's request) and the aviary (my request).

Natty and Pam go
whizzing by.

The otter installation was small but effective, but the aviary was a real disappointment: three gold and blue macaws and three exotic-looking ducks.

Waiting out front for our ride.

The zoo was unusually crowded, and we had to park about four blocks up the hill in a nice, established residential area. Toward the end of the visit, my left leg started to bug me (remnants of the gimpy condition I suffered all during the move), so I asked Steve if he would retrieve the car and pick me/us up in front of the zoo, which he did. Pam and Natalie and I waited at a picnic table on the lawn outside the zoo, then we loaded up and hit the road.

The real tiger.

We drove into Madison on the freeway, but Steve decided to take the state highway back. It was a great drive because there was very little traffic and we got to see all the small towns as we drove through.

Fundraising tiger statue.

We came up from the south into La Crosse. We stopped at the store so I could pick up stuff to drink, then picked up a take-and-back pizza, which we took back to my house and baked (surprise). This way, Pizza Night was still achieved. As usual, Natalie did not want to leave (it's not just my house; she never wants to leave anywhere if she's having a good time).

On Saturday, I went out to Menard's, which is like Home Depot, only with much more variety and selection. I bought stacked shelves for the kitchen, a conduit kit to accommodate the surround-sound wires going up the walls in the living room and gardening gloves and weed killer to deal with the small weed forests that have emerged in the yard (it seems the yard guy only cuts the lawn and not much else: he hasn't showed up for two weeks, so I'm on the edge of finding someone else).

New kitchen shelves,
assembled and in use.

While I was shopping at Menard's Amanda called; she and Natalie were in town and wanted to stop by. So I finished my shopping and called her back when I was on the way home. I unloaded all the stuff from the car and staged it on the back porch. I went inside and turned on the fans and…nothing.

No power. An outage. So we spent most of the visit out in the yard, and I realized that I probably need to get table and chairs for outside. Katie, my neighbor to the back, come out and asked if she had power. "No," she said. "I called them and they said it wouldn't be back on until late night." Oh, boy. So we went back into the house and looked for the candles. Amanda remembered where I put them before I did.

When they left, Natalie didn't want to leave, of course, but cooperated upon threat of having to donate one of her toys to Good Will. Luckily, the power came back on about 7 p.m., but I already had the candles out and set up, just in case.

Last week, I also sent out e-mails to all the people I've met so far, asking to get together for lunch/drinks/dinner. On Sunday afternoon, I got together with Dan and Mikal at one of the three gay bars here in La Crosse. It's called My Place; a small, divey kind of bar but with a friendly, neighborhood vibe. We had a couple drinks and chatted about La Crosse, moving into new houses and all the rigamarole involved in settling in. We parted and I promised I'd be inviting them to the housewarming, once I got things together. It took me awhile to realize it, but Dan and Mikal remind me of Steve and Roberto, friends back in Claremont.

Seemingly pristine hardwood under my ugly carpet.

I came home and assembled the kitchen shelves and reorganized the pantry and the countertops. Today (Monday) was the first real experiment with the air conditioning, because is was 90º with 90% humidity. It started getting oppressive indoors about 1:30, so the AC went on. It kept the downstairs at about 74º and about 80º upstairs, with the inside humidity at about 60%. But by 5 o'clock, things have cooled off into the low 80s and there's a nice breeze, so the AC is turned off and the windows are wide open.

So it's time to sign off. I have to start boxing up things in the dining room and living room (that I just unpacked), so we can move stuff around easily on Saturday: Jim and Emily are coming over to help me rip up the rugs downstairs to reveal the 1930s hardwood floors hidden underneath.