We have finally escaped the heat wave!! After four days of torture with heat and humidity a weather front came through that has dropped temperatures at least 10 degrees, and we seem to have dried out the air tremendously.

Because we live in New England, our schools are really not planned with air conditioning. Since the kids are usually out of school by the middle of June, it is not usually much of a problem, but this week's temperatures left officials worried about the safety of the kids because the schools are basically ovens. With the possibility of reaching 100 degrees waving over their heads, some superintendents decided to take action. A number of districts released the kids early (after the required 3 hours so the day can count as an official one that does not have to be made up). We even had one district that decided not to open at all. Many of the districts opted to waive rules about having driks in the classroom and actually had water readily available for anyone who wanted it.

I can understand the measures. Schools seemed designed to trap heat, and always seem to have bad airflow so it is not like they can get a good breeze going. I particularly felt bad for the high school students because they had to take finals under those conditions.

I was able to avoid the worst part of yesterday because it was Tuesday, which means I got to work from 9:30 - 8:00 pm. The heat was passing by the time I got to go home, and I stayed in the building for the whole day!

I hope this isn't a harbinger for the summer. I definitely don't want to have a lot of this kind of weather.