The 8th month has arrived. The name suggests we should be looking for good things. I’ll settle for less heat, less wind, and no fires.
July ended with 95° and August starts at 82; 64 was the night low so cooling the house was easy.
Saturday (8/1) is windy. Last night at 8:00 there was just 5 mph wind from the East. By 9:00 the switch happened and the wind was out of the NNW in double digits. By morning the steady wind was 25 mph with gusts to 40. That increased to 40 and 51. On the Beaufort Scale of winds, that is called a Severe Gale.
I have not found any reports of wind damage or fires near me. Other parts of WA and OR are not as fortunate.
Those pleased with the wind are the owners of the facilities harvesting power from it. The green line in this chart shows the fast ramp up from near none to 3,000 MW – – equivalent to the power needed to run approximately 3 million 1,000-watt light bulbs simultaneously. The chart is from the Bonneville Power Administration representing sources in WA & OR.
My brother’s 2nd son, Eric and wife Jen, are in WA State at a park east of the Tri-Cities and about 100 miles from me. They are seasonal workers (poorly paid volunteers) for a couple of months, get trailer parking, and do park things a few hours for 4 days a week. This is the 5th year they have been vagabonds, traveling, working, visiting friends and relatives, and seeing much of North America.
They came up on Thursday. We went to EBRG’s Red Horse Diner and then out here for a visit, although they had a motel room in town. Friday morning I went in and we had breakfast at the Country Cafe (in the downtown area). We talked family and they shared stories of their life on the road, and of the others they have met. There seems to be a world of fascinating others we know little about.
I managed to do a few yard chores this week but because of the heat not much. I did build 10 inch high sideboards for the garden cart. The cart holds 4 cubic feet and will carry much weight but for grass & weeds, or pine cones it lacks volume. Now better.
Keeping Track
on the Naneum Fan
John