The Heat is On!
Each week is different here. This week has been the onset of very high temperatures. Of course, it's all in Celsius so sometimes it still takes me a while to really grasp how hot it really is. It's been in the mid- to high-30's here. What does that mean? Well, 38ºC is 101ºF. In the house, it gets up to 27ºC which is about 80ºF, which is actually not so bad if you consider that we do not have air conditioning. However, today I was too hot for just a little too long and got kind of irritable. Ruben was very patient and understanding though.
Because of the heat and the very low humidity here in Central Catalunya, we are at great risk of grass and forest fires. In the last two days there have been more than 12 grass fires that have started in this area. I have personally seen two of these.
On Monday we were on our way to Carrefour (a French Wal-Mart-like store here) to buy a little table for our balcony when I saw the smoke. We had some extra time and Ruben asked if I wanted to get a closer look. So, we went to the fire. We actually got there before the firemen. It was quite a show. In the hour that we were there, more than 20 fire trucks showed up, plus 3-4 heliopters and 2 hydroplanes, all dropping water from the sky to try to control the fire.
They say that a lot of the fires that have started this week are field fires that start up when the farmers are collecting their wheat crops. Due to the heat, the combines sometimes create sparks which can easily start a flame. The Catalan government has issued a decree that the combines cannot be used during the hottest hours of the day for the next couple days. Of course, the farmers don't like this...so it's the big stink for the next day or two.
The other fire we saw was here in Sant Vicenç just a couple days ago. I don't have photos because I didn't have my camera with me. We were at the swimming pool and a repeat of the air show from Monday started up again. "Amazing," I thought. It's very sad and something I would prefer not to see...but it was interesting to watch the pilots at work while we were finding relief from the heat at the pool.
Although you may not understand the language, you may be interested in watching a news report on the subject. Click on the video below.
After all this, we DID get our little table from Carrefour. Ruben put it together and it's already been used a few times.
So, that's our excitement for the week. They say that the temperatures are supposed to go down a bit on Sunday. I'm waiting by the fan!
Because of the heat and the very low humidity here in Central Catalunya, we are at great risk of grass and forest fires. In the last two days there have been more than 12 grass fires that have started in this area. I have personally seen two of these.
On Monday we were on our way to Carrefour (a French Wal-Mart-like store here) to buy a little table for our balcony when I saw the smoke. We had some extra time and Ruben asked if I wanted to get a closer look. So, we went to the fire. We actually got there before the firemen. It was quite a show. In the hour that we were there, more than 20 fire trucks showed up, plus 3-4 heliopters and 2 hydroplanes, all dropping water from the sky to try to control the fire.
They say that a lot of the fires that have started this week are field fires that start up when the farmers are collecting their wheat crops. Due to the heat, the combines sometimes create sparks which can easily start a flame. The Catalan government has issued a decree that the combines cannot be used during the hottest hours of the day for the next couple days. Of course, the farmers don't like this...so it's the big stink for the next day or two.
The other fire we saw was here in Sant Vicenç just a couple days ago. I don't have photos because I didn't have my camera with me. We were at the swimming pool and a repeat of the air show from Monday started up again. "Amazing," I thought. It's very sad and something I would prefer not to see...but it was interesting to watch the pilots at work while we were finding relief from the heat at the pool.
Although you may not understand the language, you may be interested in watching a news report on the subject. Click on the video below.
After all this, we DID get our little table from Carrefour. Ruben put it together and it's already been used a few times.
So, that's our excitement for the week. They say that the temperatures are supposed to go down a bit on Sunday. I'm waiting by the fan!
Hey! I found your blog!! Wow!! I've been pouring over your "notes" on FB for about an hour - feel like I've gotten a tiny glimpse into your life over the past few years.
ReplyDeleteI can relate to this latest post - we lived in Cyprus for more than two years and it sounds very much like a similar climate. No rain from late May to September. Hot, hot, hot & very little air conditioning. We also had a number of wildfires and it was pretty awesome to watch the helicopters come in with water.
We had a fire break out behind a home in our village once on a Sunday - we happened to be home that morning - and Todd even beat the homeowner to the fire, much less the firetrucks. Several of the neighbors pitched in, since it was August and the height of fire season and everyone was desperate to keep the fire from getting bigger. They finally got it out, the bottom of Todd's shoes were melted, and I spent the rest of the day weepy from the emotion of the whole thing!
Well, gotta scoot - look forward to hopefully chatting with you later this week!