Really? More of this? Ninety-seven degrees on Saturday? In October? I had plans and they did not include calling friends to ask if I could jump in their pool.
This happens every year. We get the first taste of fall. The nights are nice. The mornings are perfect. Even the heat of the day comes and goes quickly. And then we get this blast of summer, almost as if the weather is reminding us that fall really is a season to celebrate.
However, I’m still bummed that the hot weather will be when my younger sister is coming to town for a visit.
Up until this week the weather was perfect for driving around in my dad’s old black Mustang convertible. Chico isn’t a good place for a black car, but Dad wanted me to have it and I feel close to him when I drive it.
I turn on the engine at least once a week, but the car sat idle for nearly a year while I saved to fix the oil pan. After I paid for the repairs, I was inspired to wash and wax it.
With hot summer and wet winter, I can drive the car about 10 weekends a year. I figure with car insurance, that means about $50 for each joyride.
Sadly, the novelty of the car has worn off for most of my friends. They would rather we ride bikes or cruise in a car with temperature controls.
Akerke has been my go-to convertible co-pilot. She’s my doctor friend visiting from Kazakhstan through the International Programs at my work. We’ve been making excuses to run errands — back and forth to Costco for no particular reason. Ice cream? You betchya. Those night drives to upper park just wouldn’t be the same if we had not been in the convertible. We took the long way home.
One day we drove down The Esplanade, the light flickering through the canopy of trees. She reached her arms above her head, catching the wind. “This is the perfect day.”
And now it’s 97 degrees.
When my sister visits this weekend, I’m still hoping to show her a good time, but some of my hopes have been dashed. She lives in the Bay Area, where there will be a heat spike this weekend — to 88 degrees.
I’m complaining, but none of this is a surprise. This blast of heat revisits us in the Sacramento Valley, sometimes sooner, sometimes later.
Last year we had three days to remind us why we are wise to have planted so many trees:
• Sept. 22, 2025 — 97 degrees
• Sept. 23 — 100 degrees
• Sept. 26 — 99 degrees, (data from www.wunderground.com)
In 2024, most of us had stopped shaving our legs and started wearing long pants when September returned to super hot: Sept. 4, 2024, 102 degrees; Sept. 5, 100; Sept. 6, 104; and then sweltering again Sept. 23, 24, 28 and 30.
I’ll stop complaining and focus my mind on the good news that my younger sister will be in town.
The heat of the day is from 1-5 p.m. If we tuck into Sierra Nevada for lunch, we can follow with a jump in a creek. She said she would bring her water shoes. If there’s time on a hot Saturday we can browse at the Bookstore downtown and tuck into Woodstock’s for pinball. That still leaves the night for that drive in Dad’s car to upper park.
Garden enthusiast Heather Hacking loves when you share what’s growing on. Reach out at sowtheregardencolumn@gmail.com, and snail mail at P.O. Box 5166, Chico CA 95927.
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