The Weekend Report: Moist

I noticed that a friend of mine on Facebook posted that she hates the word "moist." Honestly, though, there is no better word to describe this rainy and extremely humid weekend. "Damp" just doesn't do the job. It feels as if the air is so thick that if you got tired of walking you could just tread water or move to a swimming stroke.

The ol' WeatherTech STX 70000 backs me up on this front. Earlier today it was 75 degrees with 86% relative humidity outdoors.

Before the weekend got truly moist, though, we had a lovely Friday evening. It was an evening just right for the first good Friday night pontoon cruise of the season: 82 degrees before the sun went down, and up in the 70s well after sunset. Fortunately, our neighbors had their pontoon in the lake already, since the ol' Stealth Pontoon is still under a tarp in the driveway. And so, we had a lovely late cruise with our neighbors and another couple.

Yesterday the humidity rolled in and I had one of the least productive days of the year. The high point of yesterday's productivity came when I took a nap during the baseball game. Other than that, I read the paper, read a bit of a book, fiddled with the add/drop rankings for one of my fantasy baseball teams, watched the movie Helvetica with Monique, and then watched baseball games into the night. It felt very much like a restful rainy summer day. Little did I know that that yesterday's air would be Arizona-dry compared to today.

There's been a bit of puttering on this and that around the house amid today's humidity: a little cleaning here, some making order there, and a bath for Katie the Beagle. But everything felt as if it proceeded with the stately pace of an underwater ballet. Then Monique and I decided to pop out to look at flooring and carpet options. I looked at the weather radar to confirm that all was clear. Since we would only be gone for an hour or so, we decided to leave Katie the Beagle out in the yard.

About forty-five minutes later as we stood in the Home Depot, the downpour hit the tin roof with a thunderous clatter. All of that humidity decided to spontaneously drop at once. We hustled home to rescue the drenched beagle, who had never really dried out after her bath, anyway. (Hey, you try to dry a fur coat in 85% humidity.) And now, it's time for dinner (grilled chicken, asparagus, and rice) while the rain keeps pouring down outside. If anything, it's raining even harder than when we got home.

All in all, a moist weekend.