It’s springtime. Where we live in the higher elevations of central Arizona, which means wild swings in temperature between night and day.
The lows are still in the forties (just two weeks ago they were in the thirties), but the days are in the eighties. That’s a forty degree shift.
During the hottest part of the summer, the shift might be only 20 degrees. Same for during the coldest part of the winter.
Typically, this time of year, we’ve turned off the furnace and we leave doors and windows open overnight. Right now, the house usually cools down to about 63 degrees by the time the sun comes up again. That’s a good starting point.
Since I have a problem with air conditioned air, we try to use the air conditioning as little as possible. So it isn’t on right now either. And when we do finally turn it on, it will be set to come on only after the house reaches 85 degrees inside. At any rate, yesterday, the house heated up to a max temperature of 79 degrees.
But it’s the temperature of the house in the morning that concerns me most at this moment.
We take our dog, Maddie, for a walk first thing each morning shortly after the sun comes up. Then we come back home and we all have breakfast. I eat a simple breakfast of dry rolled oats and a hot drink. The drink is called “Pero” and it’s intended as a substitute for coffee, but tastes nothing like coffee. It’s better than plain hot water though. Maddie has a sumptuous breakfast. First there is a little scrambled egg followed by a piece of chicken jerky. Then she eats the canned food in her bowl. Often there are left over cat snacks on the floor that Bonfire did not eat and she eats those.
They say that you should eat breakfast like a kind, lunch like a prince and dinner like a pauper. I don’t do that, but Maddie eats breakfast like a kind for sure.
I eat my breakfast while sitting in my recliner. Actually, Bernd and I don’t use the dining table much for eating. It usually has a jigsaw puzzle in progress on it. Maddie often joins me in my recliner. While I’m sitting there, we help each other stay warm. But eventually, I have to get up and get busy with the days chores. Maddie usually remains in my chair.
I worry that she might get a bit chilly once I leave. So I cover her with a throw. This morning, she looked particularly fetching with her head on the pillow and the throw snuggled around her. So I had to take a photo of her.
None of this is really momentous stuff. Especially in the face of the current pandemic. But this is what is important to me right now; my love for our little pooch and my concern for her comfort.
Maddie's Mom Writes 