Just Me - AmeliaJake, The Peanut Butter Cafe & Roadhouse

Heat ambush

September 1, 2011 AmeliaJake 3 Comments

I don’t know what the exact high today was in Fort Wayne today – or here – for that matter. Somewhere above 95 degrees with a knock you backwards heat index. Oh, yeah. At one point the thermometer in my car said the outside temperature was 102 on Lima Road.

Usually, I look at weather.com; usually, I have some inkling of the trend. But not this time. So when I left this morning with two passengers for an extended trip including two appointments and a super important stop for skinny jeans, I did not have HOT in mind.

Later, it would have me in body.

But since I did not know it was getting in the high 90’s, I assumed the cooler nights had made me more sensitive to days in the high 70’s and low 80’s. Then I didn’t believe my car’s thermometer . . . Oh, it’s been on asphalt all day. I watched for bank signs and then grew much hotter with each one that posted 98+ numbers.

That’s me – had I not known the true temperature, I would have said it was pretty warm today; now I think I almost melted in a sweltering, energy-leaching jungle.

And it’s going to be that way tomorrow! It will be a good day to stay inside and look for the hat. ACK! I had no more than typed that when I saw a notification of a comment from Albug about that very subject:

Maybe you had it on, then when you saw the mower problem you took it off to scratch your head. When you were inspired to use the tree and the crow bar your head got too big to put the hat on and you left it behind the fence. Then the dandelions carried it off to their hideout to use as ransom next spring to save their minions .

Time to call Dandelion Busters.

3 thoughts on “Heat ambush”

Albug says:

September 2, 2011 at 2:03 pm

I’ve tried that, but they don’t return my calls.
AmeliaJake says:

September 2, 2011 at 5:40 pm

Uh . . . do they have caller ID?
Pottermom says:

September 3, 2011 at 12:03 pm

I think a critter carried it away. I almost lost my hat to a moose yesterday. Okay, maybe not my hat but I did see a moose and her baby and mama was not happy to see us out hiking her woods. She was downright scary! I’ll have to blog about it when I’m home and not doing this dratted one finger typing on the ipad. Now back to the hat….. If it were my hat I’d probably find it in the refrigerator which I went to to get a cool drink due to the heat.

Comments are closed.

***Jody Lynn Vance: 1985-2011***

Jody was born at sunrise on a bright, sunny, cold, snowy Groundhog’s Day and from Day One she was a gift to everyone around her. Her infectious laugh and rambunctious spirit made her the center of attention where ever she happened to be.

She and her Dad would watch Sesame Street and sing at the top of our voices (and quite out of key) all of the songs. She enjoyed having Mom fix her hair so it was fancy and just right.

As a toddler she had quite an impressive vocabulary and often had a lot to say. One time Dad was headed out the door to go to work and she pointed her finger and said, “No. No. No. Don’t go anywhere!“

Jody was very seldom crabby, always happy and she wasted no time in spreading that joy to everyone around her. Jody’s favorite place was to be perched on the lap of Mom or Dad or playing with her toys spread out all over the floor. Jody was always affectionate, wanting hugs and “moochies” as she called smooches on the cheek.

At around two, Jody’s illness began to attack her. It took a beautiful, innocent child and put her through untold pain and suffering,

I know that through all of that she was not afraid. She had the heart and spirit of lion. She never gave up; time after countless time, she would open her eyes and there would come that smile. Jody lost her speech, but never was at a loss for words. She could say more with a look or a half smile than most people do yakking all day long.

After numerous doctor, hospital, and specialist visits, we were given the news of her illness. I remember that moment frozen in time … it was as if the entire world stopped. It was in that brief moment we both knew that we must make the very most of the time we had remaining together and not dwell on the despair of all of the things that would never be.

Jody was not expected to live more than three or so - but she had too many things to do and stories to tell, so she cruised by that birthday and over two more decades of birthdays, Christmases and millions of smiles and hugs. Jody was well-liked by other kids; once when she was being wheeled into her classroom at Handicare, one of the children yelled, “Hey everybody, Jody’s here” and all the kids cheered.

Two of the biggest joys in her life were her two little brothers, Joey and Sammy. She would just beam with joy when they would sit next to her and when they began to get older she’d love to listen to them running through the house and playing together. The two of them would start laughing and Jody would laugh right along with them. She would listen intently to everything they did and they would include her as often as they could. The three of them loved watching Saturday morning cartoons and The Three Stooges.

Joe and Sam did without a lot of things that other kids had, did and took for granted … and they never once complained or were resentful of the way things were. That shows a special kind of love and a special kind of family.

As the years went by and the boys grew up into strong and healthy, Jody’s health slowly and steadily declined. She would have long stretches where she was fairly stable and then would become so very ill.

Many times we were sure the end was near and then she would open those sparkling blue eyes and stretch just like nothing had happened at all.

Once she was in the hospital with her usual bout of pneumonia and lapsed into a coma; this went on for 8 days. One Dr. came in, examined her and just shook his head. Later that night Jody’s eyes popped open and she was refreshed from her cat- nap.

People over the years have commented, ”I don’t know how you do it. ”This always struck me as odd. My thoughts would always be: How could you even think of turning your back on someone who needs you that much?

It was always our promise to Jody that she would always live at home with her family and I think she found comfort in knowing that.

But, no one person can take the credit for caring for this wonderful young woman. It has taken an army of doctors, nurses, teachers, aides, pharmacists, friends, and family over the years to maintain Jody at home, and we could never begin to thank you enough.

Jody always kept her head held high and never seemed to be afraid; she has truly been my inspiration on many occasions. When things were gloomy and seemed hopeless, just one smile and a hug was all I needed to go on. Jody will always be my hero. I love her and will treasure the time we had together.

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