Heat Wave

It is August 2nd and Korea is experiencing a major heat wave. I know, I know, all of you in North America and Europe are saying, "big deal, we've had one going on for ages." I understand that, but here, the rains have just stopped and they were considered the worst in over 76 years. It was horrible. I've never seen flooding like there was in all my 7 years here in Korea. Kind of scary to be honest. But the rains have stopped and the air is hot and full of the mosture that has failed to seep into the ground. Standing water means more mosquitos and the heat combined with the high humidity makes it unbearable. I sweat just standing outside.... blech! But on the up side, it is gorgeous outside. The skies are incredibly blue and the sun is bright... and the heat makes my cat more passive, which is a good thing because she has taken to trying to escape on a regular basis.
I first discovered her desire to be outdoors when I came home from school one day in the late spring to find her sunning herself out on the rocks that are outside the balcony of my first floor apartment. I panicked because there are tons of dirty and diseased alley cats out there sometimes... and she is an indoor whimp, she'd get pulverized!! Not to mention the cars that seem to aim for cats in this country! So... what did I do? I found string and tied the screens to the posts and made it too small for her to get out. This worked great until the first horrible downpour of the monsoon. The string was cheap and basically fell off... so, I came home to find her gone yet again. This time she was laying in the shade under a tree at the front of my building. So... out came some thin rope and I tied the doors shut again. But, I have a clever cat and she knocked the screens off their tracks and pushed her way out! Darn thing. So I finally figured out how to wedge the screens so she couldn't do either. VICTORY!!!! *muah-ha-ha*
Unfortunately, Pixie(that's my cat) is much more clever that I give her credit for. Basically, she figured out how to push open the other side of the sliding doors where there is no screen... *sigh* I am defeated by the little monster. So... in the interests of keeping her satisfied with her need to go outdoors, I am buying a harness and leash today... yes, you read right, I am going to start walking my cat! Should make for excellent blogs in the future... the stories I will be able to tell about the shocked faces of the Koreans in my neighbourhood... hee hee.

Well, I am off... Ciao