Real posts have been slow to arrive here lately, and I wish I could say that this situation will be changing soon, but…it’s really hot.

I live in New Hampshire, where it seems like we need to get used to having truly hideous heat waves twice a month. The temperature on my porch keeps nudging one hundred degrees, and the humidity makes it feel like we’re all living under water. Sleep has been sporadic at best, and even though I’m drinking more than a gallon of water each day, my body feel perilously close to shutting down. I’d write something profound about our changing climate here, but honestly? I can barely rub two thoughts together at this point.

So, rather than a coherent post about something you might actually care about, here is a collection of random bits about what I’ve been doing in spite of the insomnia and heat exhaustion.

Sewing

This is going somewhat well, somewhat crappy (which will be a repeating theme as we go on). I haven’t touched my fabric or sewing machine in days since I don’t want to sweat all over everything, but when I have been working I’ve been learning quite a lot. My near-term goal with learning to sew is to be able to make at least some of my own clothes, as well as accessories like bags and pillows. A longer-term goal is to makes things to sell.

I’m not sure when I’ll actually achieve these goals, but whenever the weather isn’t trying to kill me I’ve been making progress.

Knitting

I’ve taken on a number of simple knitting projects which I need to complete by the end of August. I say “simple,” because they aren’t very difficult from a technical perspective, but they do require a lot of time to put together. I’m a slow knitter, but I’m pretty confident that I can get everything done by the deadline.

Gardening

My garden is an unmitigated disaster this year. I was kind of afraid this would happen since I was trying out a whole new method of preparing my soil, but it still kind of sucks. Pretty much nothing came up, and what did hasn’t been doing very well. I picked up some potatoes which I intended to put in late last week, with the hope that I’d get at least some return on my land, but the heat has made it impossible to get outside and do any real work.

Honestly, this is a big let down for me, and more than once I’ve stood on my porch, staring at my empty rows, and asked why I’m even bothering. The feeling passes eventually, but…yeah. This sucks.

Cooking

Over the last few months I’ve been eating like crap. Between being busy, being lazy, and not wanting to stand over a stove in the blistering heat, I’ve made a lot of microwaved “meals” and other dubious choices. This is one thing I’ve managed to improve this week. I bought a metric ton of veggies and other raw or whole ingredients and have been preparing actual food. I still need to make some major changes to how much I eat, but what I’m eating has significantly improved.

It’s also been a lot nicer to my wallet, for reasons I’ve discussed previously.

Magic

At the best of times, most of my magic doesn’t look very magical. Baking bread, taking a walk in the woods, or going fishing are all ways in which I build new connections with the world around me, and bring new things and opportunities into existence. If there’s a One True Purpose to magic, I think it looks a lot more like brewing your own beer than sitting perfectly still for an hour while picturing a red, equilateral triangle.

That said, I do perform activities and rituals which are much more obviously “weird” than knitting a hat. Alas, I’ve seriously fallen off the wagon here. I’m keeping up with my daily “magical hygiene,” because that’s as easy as breathing after all of these years, but as for serious work? I’ve basically done nothing.

Partly, though, this is because I’ve seen very little necessity for it. I’ve written before that I’m not a super fan of doing daily tarot pulls, but rather only really throw the cards when I have a question. If I have a big project that I need to get through, I don’t have to ask the deck “What should I focus on today?” Similarly, if I only got four hours of sleep thanks to a heat wave, and only have the mental space to watch Netflix and knit, I already have all the answers I need.

In the same vein, I haven’t felt a strong need to perform any practical enchantments. I’ve got pretty much everything I require at this point, although I am seeing a few things coming up in the next couple of months which might need some attention.

Brain…failing

All of this rambling, half-assed writing has taken more out of me this morning than I expected, so I’m going to wrap it up here. I mean, I knew that my brain was pretty fried when I started, but wow! I feel like I could use a nap, though I know better than to even try laying down in this heat. It’s barely seven in the morning as I write this, and it’s already seventy-four degrees outside.

I hope that wherever you are, the weather is pleasant, and you’re in good health. But if you’re in the same boat as I am? Drink some water, you sweaty raisin.