The leading edge of Monsoon…

We’ve spent the past week in a minor-league heat wave, every day peaking at mid-nineties. Nothing like what’s going on in the cities in the valley, I’m told.

This is perfectly normal for July before the start of Monsoon. The weatherman says that’s supposed to start this week, and we got a little taste of it with heavy evening clouds and a bit of overnight rain.

That meant it never really cooled off overnight until near morning, and the sudden humidity wasn’t as welcome as it might have hoped. I didn’t sleep well at all. Turned the ceiling fan off around midnight when the wind from the brief rainstorm promised to cool the room, then turned it right back on an hour later. Basically dozed off and on for eight hours.

Tobie handles the heat better than either of his last two predecessors…

He shows no sign of suffering at all, though by afternoon like everybody else he’s panting for a little breeze.

The height of summer makes baking less attractive than it normally is. I enjoy baking my own bread but the main cabin is only 200 square feet and the oven makes itself felt. Nevertheless, bread must happen and so I try to move the time up as early in the morning as the voltmeter will allow. I seem to go through a cycle of habit, where my dough ball gets dryer and dryer until I get bad results, and then I overcompensate and go to the other extreme with too much wet as with the last loaf…

…and then I end up with this: Overrising, falling in the oven, lacy texture that doesn’t really work for anything. I have to bake again today and I plan to keep this lesson in mind: Moderation in all things.

The immediate forecast calls for afternoon thunderstorms “in spots,” which means exactly nothing in terms of actual rain, but that’s normal for the beginning – and really the middle and the end – of Monsoon. You’ll know if it’s going to rain and how hard when it does it. What’s a little unusual is then the forecast says three days of 100+ with lots of sun. Swell: More hiding in the shade all afternoon. Ah, well: I knew the job was dangerous when I took it. 🙂

Carry on!