We're lucky not to feel the unseasonable heat in our house. I have the windows open and a couple of ceiling fans on and the ocean breeze keeps us nice and cool. So yesterday, when our unschooling friends were meeting at a local pool, I almost bagged it. A pool? Who picked a pool? Is it heated?
By the time we got there, you couldn't have kept me away from that water, heated or not (it was). Once we left our little micro-climate here on the hilltop, it was hot out there! D'anjou's first dip into a pool and he loved it. He kept trying to put his face in the water, smiling at all the kids splashing around us. The only reason we got out was to avoid overexposure to the sun. We retired to a shady lounge chair and watched Mini-Pear and her friends play for another 2 hours.
I'm still adjusting to shepherding two children. D'anjou's milky white chubby bits remained snowy, but poor Mini-Pear's cheeks were so flushed by the time we all walked over to the adjoining playground. After braving the hot Santa Ana's wind for about half an hour, albeit under the shade of the lone tree, we decided to trek back to the sea breezes.
But there's a Jimbo's right by the park! I didn't have a dinner plan yet! Why not pick up a couple of smoothies, a nice loaf of bread and some organic sandwich stuffin's? Grand idea, mama, especially with my sun-tired children reaching the end of their respective days.
We made our detour, and were back out to the car in no time. I was tired too. The stop? Maybe not such a great idea. I turned the key in the ignition. Nothing. The car was hot from being parked in the sun all day. We could't even sit in it long enough to make a phone call. Everybody out, including our freshly purchased food.
Still, no catastrophe. I called AAA, wisely returned our perishables to Jimbo's, and tried to find a coolish spot to wait. No one's air conditioning seemed to work. D'anjou was wailing inconsolably. We dragged a couple of molten (who paints them black in this sun?!?!?) patio chairs over into a miniscule patch of shaded concrete to await the towtruck.
Truck #1 comes, jumps the battery. Admonishes me to check and see what I might have left on in the car. I pack up the kids, stroller, groceries, sit in the driver's seat, reach for the shifter and...the engine gives out.
Truck #1 is gone. I call AAA again. The dispatcher hears my wailing baby and puts a rush on a second truck. I call Mr. Pear. It's plain the car is going to need towing and I'm going to need a lift. He arrives in a friend's car just as our car is getting hitched up to the truck.
All told, we spent about two hours hanging out in the Jimbo's parking lot. Truck #2 towed the car to our trusty local mechanic (I can't tell you how nice it feels to say that, after not having one for most of my adult life) and we headed home to eat sandwiches, de-chlorinate in the shower and flop into bed, completely spent from a very full day in the hot winds.
Our mechanic called first thing this morning, but hasn't called back to let me know what might need repairing. Our car is getting old (OMG! It's 12!). Finger's crossed this isn't the death knell! You know I hate shopping. Don't make me have to buy a car!
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