Having decided to forego our annual RV sojourn to Oregon and California due to the pandemic, Charlie and I are hunkered down at our estate in Mesquite, Nevada…trying to keep cool.
It isn’t even Summer yet, and we’ve seen a number of days in the 100 to 107 degree range. “Yeah, but it’s a dry heat!” Humidity is indeed low, perhaps 11 percent, so maybe 105 degrees feels like 100. Big deal…it’s still HOT.
Speaking of scorchers and dealing with that, I installed a misting system on my outdoor pergola/patio area based on advice from my Yuma/RV buddy Dan Quinn. It WORKS. Praise the Lord, we can actually lounge in our patio on a hot day in partial comfort. The dogs like it, too.
On the subject of our canine friends, we are still awaiting delivery of our Boston Terrier puppy “Bonnie” from the breeder in Ohio. She is now nine weeks old and weighs over three pounds. Our neighbors know about the impending family addition, so a bunch of Charlie’s girlfriends organized a doggie baby shower the other day at a friend’s house. It was a surprise to Charlie and she loved it. Even though she’d had four sons many years ago, she’d never had a baby shower. So, it was quite special, even though the “baby” was already born and everyone had a photo of her.
It will be interesting to see how Bonnie fits into the Manning pack. I’m sure Booger will be a great “mother” to her and will teach her how to be a good dog. She will also appreciate the fact that Bonnie will spend a lot of time playing with Baby, giving her 12-1/2 year-old bones a break. Baby is probably going to be worn out by Bonnie, who will be looking for a place to hide and nap after hours of continuous play. It’s going to be a circus for a while.
We had a freak windstorm last week that wreaked havoc here in Sun City Mesquite. The winds were well in excess of 60 mph for a few hours and many trees were snapped or uprooted. Our 15-foot Peruvian Mesquite in the front yard got blown over, and a three-inch thick wood tree stake holding up our African Sumac in the backyard snapped off at ground level. Patio furniture was thrown all over our yard. It was a mess. People who have lived here for a long time say that it was the worst windstorm they’ve ever experienced here.
Partly because of exposure to wind, we had decided awhile back to partially enclose the patio adjacent to our French doors (into our great room). Yesterday our general contractor “Adam” arrived to start that job. It will cost $4,300 and will be stuccoed on the exterior to blend with the rest of the house, and on the interior side (patio side) there will be a TV wall with some niches for plants and décor items. Hopefully, I can use that outdoor area to watch football games, do some exercise, and maybe practice my golf swing while watching instructional videos.
Pandemic-wise, things have been loosening up a bit here. In a community of 20,000 people, we have supposedly had 25 cases of Covid-19 with no deaths. A high percentage of the folks who live here are high-risk elderly who are careful. The city’s three casinos opened this week, so it will be interesting to see if the coronavirus infections spike in Mesquite. Most people we know don’t go to the casinos except to eat a nice meal at one of the upscale restaurants. Hopefully, none of them will bring the bug back to the neighborhood.
We have no plans as of this minute to do a big RV trip in the next three months. We have some neighbor friends (the Howa’s) who have an RV and who want us to do some sort trips with them. We might do that if we can find a cool place to stay within a day’s drive; i.e. Kanab, Zion or Heber, Utah. It’s also possible that we might go to So Calif to see friends and relatives. But, everything depends on the pandemic and that potential “second wave”. If that begins to happen, we won’t be going anywhere or doing anything. I have a right hip replacement surgery scheduled for October 5th, so I’ve got to stay healthy.
Even if that operation cripples me, or I catch Covid-19, I will find a way to get to the polls on November 3rd and vote against the Antichrist. So help me God.
Keep cool out there and be safe.