Thursday, July 18, 2019

Sécheresse

Drought. It's official: we're in one. Major portions of our département, the Loir et Cher, are at drought level red. Water restrictions are in place that prohibit irrigation, watering lawns, washing cars, and filling pools and fountains. Watering vegetable gardens is only allowed between 8pm and 8am. We haven't had rain in over a month, we've already had a week-long heat wave, and another is predicted for next week, with daytime highs expected near 100ºF for several days in a row.

The wild flowers are drying out. Early? I'm not sure.

This is very similar, although not yet as bad, as it was in 2003 when we moved here. France, with the exception of the Mediterranean coast, had a reputation for being wet and chilly. No more. Our winters have been mild lately, with little or no snow. And while we had a wet spring this year, it wasn't enough to counter years of rain deficits. The level of the Cher River is at a historic low, and the Loire is lower than it has been so early in the season. The water tables are not being sufficiently replenished. The situation reminds me of the years we spent in California.

This coming week will be difficult, especially for sleeping.

My information comes from the web sites of the Préfecture du Loir-et-Cher and our local newspaper, La Nouvelle République.

5 comments:

  1. Difficult in so many parts of the world. I hope you soon have relief, although it doesn’t look likely. We finally did have temps above 41 here.

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  2. I'm thinking there should be refrigerated sleeping cases.

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  3. Oh geeeeze, I'm so sorry. I know that you two don't have any problem with regular heat, and prefer no AC, and all that... but, of course, sleeping upstairs, and in extended temps that high, you just can't escape the oppressiveness of it. Any chance you'd consider getting one of those portable AC units that are on casters, and have a big flexible tube that goes out the window? Just for this type of situation? I guess you'd end up having to use it in the guest room, though... othewise, you'd need a huge one to cool off the whole attic. Amy H./Amy Plum just showed one on FB during the heat wave last month, that she hooked up in the loft bedroom of her Paris apartment.

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  4. mitch, I presume that AC is pretty common where you live.

    sillygirl, like tanning beds, but cool.

    judy, I saw that one that Amy installed. I don't know about doing that for just a few days of use per year, but if this trend continues, who knows?

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  5. Although it's readily available, it still isn't as common as we expected. Many people still do without.

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