Feeling the Heat

The weather has been unusually hot and muggy lately. The temperature has gone up into the hundreds, making it miserable. Watering plants is impossible during the heat of the day, and they only quickly become wilted again. Our grass is turning brown, though it does not look like it did several years ago. We desperately need a hurricane or something. Anything that's cool and gives us a nice, long rain shower.

Well, things always break down when they shouldn't. We are having one of those moments, with our air conditioning. On Wednesday, it was hotter than usual in the house, so Mom ordered me to stop doing laundry, since we thought it was only making the house hotter. Well, she took Mandy and Bethany Greer shopping, leaving Seth and me at home. The air was on, but the house was absolutely sweltering. I was so sweaty that my shorts were clinging to my legs, and Seth decided to go shirt- less. When Mom got home, she checked the temperature. It was ninety- six degrees in the house. We quickly realized that the air was not working properly, so we called John Presley, an air conditioner repairmen, to take a look at it. While we waited, we opened all the windows and turned on our monster hall fan. The outside air was actually cooler than the inside. Well, we got it looked at and learned that we needed to fix it or buy a new one. And, our furnace in the attic isn't working well either, so we need to replace that too. Dad and Mom decided to replace both at the same time, which may happen in a few weeks. So, until then, it'll be fans in every room and open windows.

Now for something slightly more humorous. Over the past few weeks, Dad has brewed fifteen gallons of beer (three different types in different buckets). Well, beer is supposed to remain in relatively cool temperatures or it will go bad. With all the heat in the house, Dad grew worried about the beer going bad. So, we called the Strevel family and received permission to store the fifteen gallons in their dark and cool basement. Dad carried the three buckets down to the street and put them in the back of the van. He sat in the back and held onto them until we arrived at the Strevels'. After the delivery, we went to Boarders to cool down and relax. That night, we kids and Mom stayed at the Strevels' house, and Dad joined us the next night. Tonight, we will be sleeping in our own house, kept cool by the fans.

Well, the day is approaching. On Monday, school starts for four of us Cunninghams. I start college at Georgia Gwinnett (and I still need my last book, which hasn't come in yet. Grrrrrr). Seth and Mandy start their classes at Geneva, and Mom begins as her first year as science teacher. Her science room looks great. It has a bookshelf full of books, pictures of butterflies and plants, several quotes on the walls, and some plants. And, she bought a beta fish and wants to get a tarantula. I hope the boys at school don't try anything with the tarantula, such as let it out of its cage. Mom says that the hairy spider may be staying with us in the future. Yikes! I hope the cats don't knock its cage over, or I shall die of fright. So, anyway, the day is getting closer. Mandy is trying to finish her summer English assignment, and I need to start working on a project for one of my classes (the stupid one about being a good college student). This will be the first time in many years (since third grade) that I will be attending a secular school. I can only imagine that things have changed significantly since then. I will definitely miss Geneva and all the teachers and students. Well, I can't always be there forever. One of these days, I ought to do a slideshow with pics from Geneva.