The “torrid heat” continues here, which means the only things in my back yard that have not yet turned brown are the weeds and the poison ivy. The Big-Eyed Boy, it turns out, had an encounter with the latter yesterday, which explains why we’ve both been so itchy. Today we can add “splotchy” on to the description of our miseries.

Meanwhile, if it weren’t for the constant drone of the air conditioner the metallic rasp of the cicadas would drive me crazy. I honestly can’t remember the last time our A/C unit wasn’t running full-blast, even though I’ve got the thermostat (which we had calibrated earlier this summer) set at a relatively warm 75 degrees.

The problem is our home’s sun exposure. From dawn until dusk the sun shines into my living room, a room with cathedral ceilings perfectly suited for trapping hot air. Oh, we’ve got the window tinting treatments that’s supposed to keep out some of the glare, and I try to keep the rest by leaving the mini-blinds closed most of the day. Even so, there’s always a bit of sunlight peeking through and heating things up.

Not long ago I installed blackout blinds in our bedroom, coupled with heavy drapes that make my room cave-like no matter how sunny it is outside. Thanks to them, my bedroom is quite possibly the coolest room in the house, and the sunlight never wakes me up anymore.

After receiving our electric bill yesterday ($277!) I’m giving serious thought to installing blackout blinds in our living room to cut down the heat transfer as well as the glare. The mini-blinds just aren’t cutting it, and I’m certain the savings in A/C bills would pay for the cost of the blinds by this time next summer.

Of course, then I’d wind up having to listen to those annoying cicadas.