EEgads! 90 Degrees Today!

I was up at 5:30 this morning, loading the SUV with the last vestiges of "one-person-loadable" stuff. It took three trips to get it all over to the new place, but what's left here for the movers tomorrow morning is just large furniture (about ten pieces, most of them not all that large, but too large for me alone). The guys (and one gal) are supposed to be here by 9:30 and should have it loaded out -- and hopefully unloaded as well -- by 11:00, when a "hot weather " alert takes effect. I'm praying the guys and Dawn and I can finish before 11:00 because this level of heat is brutal in the Pacific Northwest (humidity is high here).

Jackie's two dogs and my two cats did fine on the back porch until about 5 p.m. today, but then I brought the dogs in because they started to pant. The cats are still fine out there - they seem to luxuriate in warm weather. I've noticed that during the winter they love to lie by a fire or hot stove and their fur gets so hot, you'd think it would ignite... but they just love it (purr, purr, purr)! There's no accounting for taste or common sense in the cat world!

The back porch here at Jackie's old place is raised, so air circulates nicely, and there's a roof and a bamboo curtain to keep the direct rays of the sun off them. (They only get sun exposure when they elect to leave the porch.) It's a good set-up for critters, but again, when they start to pant, I bring them in. I may be overly protective, but panting is my own personal "signal of stress" when it comes to dogs. Unless they're running their hearts out, they shouldn't be panting!

Pray for the movers tomorrow morning. It's the last day of this seven-day trek. I'm almost a solid mass of bruises from chest to ankle and my "lifter" muscles have pretty much had it. (It's just amazing how quickly I recover, though.) But hey, I've lost about five pounds this week! I'm celebrating that every time I pull up my jeans to keep 'em above my still-ample hips!