It's the weather...
High(er) temps coupled with strong winds means I can't put my awning down, assuming I want to keep it. The awning is good for winds in the 25 mph range and below; anything higher than that and the awning parts company with the RV. Violently. And expensively.
My larger point is the awning is a real blessing when the unrelenting New Mexico sun beats down on the side of El Casa Móvil De Pennington. You'd be surprised just how much cooler it is indoors when the awning is deployed... and how hard my poor lil air conditioner labors when the awning is furled. To illustrate the point...
This pic was taken a couple o' summers ago around 1500 hrs. And then there's the dust that accompanies the wind in these parts. But let's not flog a dead horse.
Grew up in a house that had those canvas green and white striped awnings on all the downstairs windows. (No central air back in the day.) I loved when my Dad put them up bec. it meant summertime was HERE!!
ReplyDeleteThat and the screens my Dad had to put up, too. Gee, any wonder he was out there cussing??
You are making me pine away for some sunshine and warmth. Still waiting for winter to end out here.
ReplyDeletePeople who have never lived in Peanutville, I mean Portales, don't always understand the dust in the wind.
ReplyDeleteThe wind is howling here in OK today, but it is the one time I thank God for our hard red clay.
I will not bore you again with my stories of NM wind. Awnings were a "must have" when I grew up in the sunny south.
ReplyDeleteWe did not have AC until I was about 10 years old (and my Granddaddy & Daddy were in the appliance business). We lived in a house with 10 ft. ceilings, an attic fan, enormous windows that opened from both the bottom and from the top, and bushes planted all around that we hosed down with water to draft in a bit of relief.
Damn! I'm glad Daddy finally brought some Friedrichs home. It was the happiest night of my young life.
What Andy said. Monday felt more like late October up here. I could stand some warmth, even if it was accompanied by wind.
ReplyDeleteWe too had the 30MPH+ winds here today. And not all that warm either. Our wind doesn't have dust - it has pollen and lots of it - if we leave the windows open at all every surface has a green/yellow coating pretty quickly.
ReplyDeleteI hate spring like this.
I can sympathize with you. The awning does make a big difference.
ReplyDeleteLet's hope the wind isn't as bad today (though it looks like it will already). Floyd Fire Dept. has been working on a silage fire all day yesterday (with help from Portales, Cannon AFBFD, Dora, Elida, Arch, and Melrose) and appears the wind has rekindled it already today.
Kath: Noted, as we discussed in e-mail.
ReplyDeleteSeattle Andy and BR: It's not that I mind the higher temps as much as I HATE the frickin' wind. Warmer is always better.
Bossier Andy: I hear ya. I'm "of an age" (and of similar roots) where AC was rare. But there were ways of mitigating the heat, as you noted. Small comfort, tho.
Kris: We have pollen too... just not that much of it.
Jenny: Today's wind isn't NEARLY as bad and it's quite a bit cooler. I'm thinkin' we'll do an outdoors Happy Hour today! I hope all goes well with puttin' that fire out.