Pages

Tuesday, July 10, 2012

Sweating and other annoyances...

My friends in the Mid-West have been choking on the heat wave for quite a while, and as Mother Nature often does, she has cycled the heat back to California this week.  I grew up here, so I am no stranger to the often hot and dry summers. It's catastrophic for other parts of the country that are not prepared for it, so I hate to be a whiner when in reality it's just a minor blip in the overall scheme of things here in the "Golden state".

Perhaps it's my age (Medicare next month, folks) but it seems to get harder and harder to tolerate 104 degrees.  As a kid, we would just run through the sprinkler or jump in the pond. And let's be real, I do have a pool...so why the complaining, you ask. I just find it interesting that my patience and demeanor changes in direct opposition to the thermometer - the temperature goes up, my patience drops and my normally sunny disposition all but disappears. My body just kind of shuts down and my brain goes into a funk - that's where me, everything around me and all the things that I normally like to do become annoying.

For instance:

My hair is driving me nuts. More than anything else, I hate my hair on my sweaty neck.  I grew it out this summer so that I could put it up in a rubber band.  My daughter the hairdresser keeps my gray nicely colored, so she has a cow when I swim in my chlorine ridden pool too often...so that let's out swimming laps, I guess. Or any form of exercise, for that matter.

TV is not a solution for the doldrums.  There's nothing on in the summer, so laying around under the fan is out of the question.  And forget snoozing in the recliner - it's leather and everyone knows that shorts, tank tops and sweaty skin do not mix well with leather.

Sewing and beading is out...my craft room is at the farthest most point on the air conditioning duct work, so the tiny vent in the farthest most corner of the room is not going to cut it as far as cooling down the room. Let's not forget that running the air conditioner enough to keep your home as cool as you'd like it will mean sacrificing food and gas for the month.

Knitting is problematic, as I am presently working on a lace scarf and I can't see the stitches unless I sit under the lamp...lamps are hot. And since my brain is obsessing about how hot I am, I can't count my stitches...not to mention my readers slide off my nose.

The oven and stove heat up the kitchen, so cooking's out. And forget going to the Mall with all the other sweaty people...your car can heat up to a mere 120 degrees while you are inside shopping.

Forget reading...I forget the plot from one page to the next. Those reader issues again...

Enough already, Laurel! It's suppose to be hotter today, so I am really going to have to pull up my big girl panties and get over it.  After all, I haven't lost a whole crop of corn, I don't have cattle scraping the bare dirt for a blade of grass, I'm not in a shelter because my home incinerated in a wild fire, I haven't been out of power for a week and I know my aging Mom lives in a nice air conditioned home up the road. I really should be more thankful and pray for the folks who are truly suffering under Mother Nature's erratic whims...she obviously doesn't sweat, otherwise she would be more compassionate too.

It just "looks" cool, but it's not.

Laurel. Hot, but not in a good way.

12 comments:

  1. And through it all you manage to have beautifully painted toes.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I burst out laughing at the "Laurel, hot, but not in a good way". I remember running through the sprinkler, it doesn't hold the charm that it did years ago. I try to walk (every once in a while) but when its hot,... Have you tried the old bathing caps - I know, ruins your "do". At least get in the pool and walk, it will cool you down some. I have medicare coming next year, woo hoo, if it is still there. Have a good day.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I'm feeling your pain and don't want my colored hair green but enough is enough! Pool Time....We have a whole week of this coming up.

    ReplyDelete
  4. We had a rain and a cold front pass through today. Down to 89 from 103! Heat and drought do not bring out the best in us.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Well, I see you found a place to relax...LOL I have been in our pool alot lately. The air conditioned house is a great place to hang out. I have been cleaning house for two days. My husband had some sheetrock repair to do, so it was dusty.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Oh, I hear ya. Since moving out (I left my husband of almost 10 years in May) I live in a third-floor loft. Here in MN, the temps were in the 100s last week, which means it was 120 in the loft... Luckily, the AC cools the whole place in about 30 mins (tiny place!) but then what do you do? The beach? Have you SEEN me in a swimsuit? You have not. And there's good reason for that. The mall? Hardly. The movies? Hmm.. Actually, the movies seem like a good idea, don't they? And maybe we could stop on our way back, some guac and a margarita?

    Dang it. Now I want guac.

    Pearl

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. last night the kids came over to swim in the pool...two of them got stung by honey bees trying to cool off in the water....what's up with that??!!!

      Delete
  7. Hi Greetings from Ireland

    Enjoyed reading this post
    you are very warm and we are cold here!

    It is non stop rain - the wettest June / July
    since records began in the 1800s!

    I had the heating on for an hour earlier!

    Lovely blog and I'm following now.

    Hope it all cools down for you.

    Have a lovely day

    Fiona

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks for stopping by, Fiona!!! Following you too now!! Laurel

      Delete
  8. Love the sandals and it DOES look cool...and I can't seem to get adjusted to ANY temp. The a/c freezes me, when we turn the temp to warmer I have hot flashes...maybe all the red wine I am drinking is adding a bit to the flushes but oh well, at least it mellows my temper a bit, which has been on the flashpoint too lately. Yesterday SW told me he hopes I don't talk to people at work like I talk to him. I had to admit that yes, I do. :D

    ReplyDelete

Thanks for visiting my blog. I appreciate all those who share and leave their comments very much. Laurel

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...