I got the bright idea this afternoon to start cleaning up the mess of downed branches that the “landscapers” (using the term very loosely) left in the side yard after the desecration of the vegetation. Of course, it wasn’t until I’d been at it for nearly half-an-hour that I realized my shirt was getting drenched, and the thought occurred to me that perhaps it was too warm to be chopping wood. The weather report I caught about an hour later informed me that it had been 80 freaking degrees, only 2 degrees lower than the record high for this date in Portland. Then I worked on it some more after the temperature went down a bit (and I’d had a whole lot of iced tea).

I hate heat waves, and I’m not thrilled about summer in general. There are so many downsides to summer: bugs, sweating, being overheated indoors & out, high pollen counts, etc. The only good thing I can think of about the heat is that I tend to lose my appetite.

Chopping & carting wood in the heat may have been a really lousy idea…now I have a headache and 3 blisters. All of the blisters ripped open, but only one was fluid-filled and required minor first aid; I couldn’t find any antibiotic cream, so I just washed it carefully, sprayed it with Solarcaine and put a band-aid on it.

At least I have a few weeks’ worth of kindling toward next winter’s firewood supply. I may just rent a chainsaw for the bigger logs, because I don’t think my ax is going to cut it. Pun intended.