Midwest Trip 131003

Today's big event was a bit of a storm--the real, meteorological kind, not the family kind: dark clouds, wind, torrential rain, lightning, thunder. A year or so ago, I should have added, "the kind that Seattle never has." As of this very season, that might be rather less true.

Even so, this was quite the little event. I was fortunate to be able to watch it approach, arrive, and depart--all by using a weather-radar app on my iDevice. I stayed inside _Arcadia_ (after shutting windows and overhead vent, and unfurling about four feet of awning, with the feet in their fittings on the trailer's side; I wanted to leave the door open--which worked).

A half-hour later, sun and calm had returned, with humidity as companion.  Maximum temperature was about 86 degrees F., or so, but the continuing breeze kept the impression from seeming overly warm.

We went driving around town--a place we used to know--to find that much was unfamiliar. (Someone apparently left a gate open somewhere, and a whole lot of people arrived and built stuff.) Of course, the predominant trees are broad-leaf deciduous trees, some of which really are quite large and beautiful. The elms are nearly all gone, but the big oaks and maples and such are lovely. Nothing is as pleasant as the cool shade of a big tree on a hot day.

And we learned why the house was so hot: For [however long; months?] the old hot-water baseboard heating system had been not just _not disabled_, but was actually _on_ and _active_--set to bring the house's temperature up to 80 while the climate-control system (unified heating & air-conditioning) (or the attic fan, later in the day) fought to reduce the temperature to 65 or so. The system that replaced the baseboard system, a heat-pump with gas-fired backup, must have wondered why the task assigned was so difficult. We all did, but once we worked out why the house had begun the day warmer than the outside air, things went better. (Gas to the old system has been shut off now.)

Now, at 22:47 Central time, the outside air is nice and cool, and the insects are singing.  Pretty great.

Mark_
R/V _Arcadia_
Independence, MO