Humongous heat wave

For the past three days, every time I opened the door it has been like stepping into a preheated oven, day and night. Yes, that bad. Stifling, scorching, suffocating heat that is literally making us lethargic.

I try not to run the air conditioning all the time, but it’s not easy. We wake up in the middle of the night sweating. Thank goodness for AC, cold drinks, and showers (having lived with constant disruptions in running water supply for a few years, I really appreciate the last one).

So what have we been doing without our favorite pastime of nature walks, and with the heat too intense for outdoor work or baking? Well, there are always books and crafts for the kids to fall back on, for which I’m thankful.

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The mulberry tree in the nearby park has been especially bountiful. I just wonder why nobody else seems to take advantage of all this fruit. We have been making jam and also froze some for later, but there’s a great deal more than we can use up.

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The incubator is humming along and we are supposed to have our first chicks in a few days. The kids can’t wait.

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I’m making another little jute basket for storing odds and ends – it seems I’m always in need of more of those!

I hope we get to enjoy more pleasant weather soon and can get out of doors again. On the up side, I can’t imagine the coronavirus surviving too long in this heat.

Author: Anna

An Orthodox Jewish wife and mother enjoying a simple life with her family and chickens, somewhere in the hills, in Israel.

13 thoughts on “Humongous heat wave”

  1. Hi Anna,

    You wrote, “I just wonder why nobody else seems to take advantage of all this fruit.”

    Probably nobody picks and eats mulberries because they have lots and lots of tiny little BUGS in them! (At least the ones I remember from “the old country.” I’ve never had them here.) I didn’t want to assume you knew that.

    If the ones here have bugs too, and you have an easy method of making sure every last bug is gone, please share!

    I love them too…and I would love to pick and eat them again!

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    1. Hava, we have picked heaps from this tree. I wash all fruit in soapy water. We have also cooked, mashed, and strained for juice. I think we would have noticed a bug or two by now if there were any, but we honestly haven’t ever seen a single one.

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      1. Next time I find ripe mulberries, I’ll try washing them in the soapy water I usually use (Sterily) and then see whether bugs crawl out of the rinsed berries when I add plain water to them. Thank you, Anna!

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      2. I’d be interested in knowing what you find. It does also vary from tree to tree. There was a lovely carob tree we used to visit, with delicious fruit and never any worms. Now there’s one near our house that is positively crawling with worms.

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  3. Perhaps indeed this heat wave is the gift of HaShem to make the virus die off…good way to think. I understand that more heat is expected in our region than usual too…it has been fairly warm for this time of year already…so maybe we need to view it as just a way to kill off the virus!! I am so grateful that 3 governors have had to back off their draconian measures…we hope the nut in charge of our state will have to as well. Good thing he comes up to election again this Nov…maybe we will get someone better…one can hope!!
    Mulberries I have never eaten…likely you are the only one in your area that knows what to do with it!! Look similar to blackberries…do they taste similar?

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  4. We have several mulberry trees on our property. I’ve never noticed bugs, but I grew up in the country, where harvesting corn meant you *always* found a worm or two. Cut out the bad part and keep on going. However, with that “core” in the center of them mulberries are difficult to eat out of hand. I do make jelly and syrup – delicious on ice cream! – and we’ll have that for the winter months. And who knows, I may have eaten a bug or two. Animal protein is GOOD for you! (ha!)

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    1. Oh! About the heat and the virus – don’t get your hopes up. I have an internet friend who lives in Singapore, and they have really had a go of it. Anyway, people tend to be out and about more when the weather is decent, even if they do try to keep away from others. This plague came on us in March when it was starting to get warm, so maybe it will take a cold snap to drive it away.

      Stay inside, stay cool, and stay safe!

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      1. Actually, it was the kind of heat when nobody was out. The streets were deserted. But now we’ve had some rain and nice cool weather again. People are congregating almost freely now.

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