Sweltering Day and Night

For once, last night I was kind of a horse sleeping not standing though, but sleeping with open eyes. The heat was just incredible. The cold shower I had did little to help appease the sweltering condition.

I can only recall our first Summer episode here in the city:

The year was 2002. It was like hell, if I'll put it that way.

When we first moved down here in the city, we were met with a literal hell. Electricity had to be shut down and there was no water. Our surrounding was a gulf of smoke from fires everywhere. It was intoxicating and suffocating with soaring temperature almost like 100 degrees celsius in our area. My girls and I had to go to the city where we soaked ourselves inside airconed shopping centers.

Bushfires surrounded many places and devoured what they could devour without mercy. No need of lighting brambles to run this conflagration race.

If we can only pack some of our weather and send half to the northern end where chills abound and where the northerners send half of their freezer to cool us down, that would make Mother Nature happy thinking that some people out there are wanting a balanced ecology.

Still, many resist in believing that there's a climate change indeed occurring for all their ignorance. Someone above is controlling the weather, I wonder if many of us figured that out. The fools who are wise in their own eyes won't take this hint. I may sound preachy but that is exactly what's happening these days.

We are seeing events that have never happened before.

Back to my story:

Then early in the morning, I was awoken by a noisy commotion just as when sleep was about to take over. In my torporific daze, I seemed to hear a loud scary shrill. I thought I heard Lemmy, my cat, meowing wild as if she was being slaughtered. It's easy to get bolted by a thunder or a lightning so to speak.

When I opened the door Lemmy was right there looking at me straight to my eyes. When asked "what's up?", she said nothing. Not even a slight purr or wiggling of tail. She knows how to ignore me. Maybe, she too has heard the loud cry which I was not sure where it came from and what was it all about.

Anyhow, I nonchalantly went outside; unwind the hose, turned on the tap and gave the brickwalls, door, ceiling and verandah floor a big cold splash. I watered the whole lot down and didn't mind if my little garden patch overflowed that it almost looked like a pond. I went further to do the same of the back verandah of the neighbouring old lady. Little did I know that there was a drama inside her own abode.

Lemmy who was outside with me got scared at the sight of the powerful swooshing sound of the tap coming out from the hose. She coiled under the old chair which is purposely left outside for her own refuge. So I dropped the hose down and let her back in. I was even tempted to give her a splash to cool her down as she is on heat.

Next, I scooped the water from the big plastic green basin in the shower room into the bucket. It was the water I saved from my cold shower last night that I did not let go down the drain because I was going to use it to wash the floor of the front verandah today. I also gave the plants a nice bath with generous sprinkle. Boy! Don't they look relieved?

It was at this junction of my early morning activity that I noticed a couple of police outside a neighbour's unit.

Later, there was an ambulance coming and they took this lady with them. So that was the drama unfolded. As while I was outside hosing her back verandah, I did not even peek by her glass door then perhaps I would know what was going on. All the while I was busy watering my backyard, she was also being attended to by a Lady Paramedic and another two female Police.

I managed to surreptitiously take some photos from the inside of my unit. I could not enlarge the subject for it would take me time to find and adjust the setting as I am not well-familiar with the camera which my daughter lend me. I somewhat have misplaced mine as I don't want to declare that I have lost it after a big inspection eventuated before New Year. I am still hoping that it is still around somewhere waiting to be found.

By the way, two States, South Australia and Victoria were declared Red Catastrophic Zones and people who live in the bush were asked to evacuate. Some people did especially those with little children but not to this one on the headline I have just scoped out on the internet.

Last year, one of my friends were caught pretty close to the devastated site. They were right in the middle of the burning bush. They were safe though.

I pray that the weather will ease down and so far there is a cool forecast for tonight coming from the cold front. We need the Siberian wind to blow this way. Seriously.

Gallery of Today's Event

From stroller to stretcher...as fellow residents look on.

There she goes

Lemmy watching the crowd

A view from the inside - this is my front verandah

Lemmy investigating outside

Back View -After the big splash

Side backyard garden patch- the unnozzled hose back to its place

Cheers!