EXTREME HEAT OR EXTREME COLD
Given a choice, which weather temperature is worse?
Neither is ideal…let’s face it; they are both miserable. I have always sided with the idea that I could handle the EXTREME HEAT better than cold. Although, the last few days and the days to come are giving me a reason to reconsider my position, because of the heat wave we have been experiencing in Kansas City. With temperatures in the 100’s, being outside is pretty miserable.
But a strange thing is happening…I think I am starting to develop a tolerance to this heat. Adaptation is taking place. I am an 8-5 office boy, so it may be minimal compared to an asphalt worker's tolerance. I am sure that I could also develop a tolerance in the bitter cold climates, but hopefully I won’t have to test it. (I remember winters in South Dakota.)
I will stick to my position that EXTREME HEAT is better for its relief factors:
1. Shade – getting out of the sun is a big help.
2. Breeze – in the shade on the skin reduces temperatures.
3. Sweat – the body’s natural A/C.
4. Water – never tasted so good nor felt so good.
5. Night – when the sun is down it always cools off.
My nightly walks these last few days have been awesome. I love warm summer nights…there is a certain smell of summer that takes you back to when you were a boy playing catch with your dad until well after sunset when mom calls you to the porch for watermelon as we listen to the voice of the Royals on the radio and quiet down when # 5 comes to the plate. Warm summer night are filled with music – from outdoor porch parties to the rhythmic drone and hum of cicadas. Then there is the gorgeous breeze as she flirts with you – some moments she acts like she is interested and then she pulls back to show that she’s hard to get. But those moments when she caresses, you dream they won’t end. (You won’t see that on TV, kids!) -Did I mention the full moon the last couple of nights?
13 comments:
Everyone knows this already, I think, but EXTREME HEAT!!!
The only problem with July is that it is only two months away from Autumn. I dislike doing a lot of physical labor in the extreme heat, but if I didn't have to work in the yard or anything like that I would be happy with 90 degree whether every day.
I'm not sure about the 101 degree weather that is forcast for Saturda, though.
Uh oh, here we go again. Well written argument (good imagery). However, some points are flawed. When the temp is greater than your body temp (98.6) then that breeze works more like a convection oven than a cooling mechanism - particularly if there is high humidity and your sweat cannot evaporate to cool the surface of your skin. Also I don't consider 90+ degrees with equal humidity at midnight to be sufficiently "cooled off" to make the night significantly more pleasant than the day. To me, if I go out on an after dark walk and am sweating before I hit the sidewalk, any pleasant imagery is long gone. I'm just thankful for AC. It is the only way I could ever make it through a KC summer.
The breeze only works if your sweat can evaporate and thereby lower the temperature of the air right next to one's skin - hence the cooling sensation. However, when there is high humidity, this mechanism fails to work. That's why 105 in Phoenix isn't as brutal as 105 in St. Louis or New Orleans. As for sweat, I really hate not feeling clean, cool, and dry. Feeling overheated and sticky negatively affects my mood (ask anyone I'm around at the time) and makes it difficult for me to concentrate or be productive in any task until I've cleaned up again. (Maybe others don't have this hang-up, but I can't change this about myself, it is just what I experience.) Living in KC, I seriously had reverse seasonal affective disorder for all of July and August each year. Consequently, I've tried to spend summers up north or in the mountains for several years now. It's that or stay cooped up indoors in the AC while on Prozac.
Speaking of cool places. I'm off to go camping on Orcas Island, one of the San Juans in Puget Sound this weekend. Expected high temperatures are 68-70 all weekend long with brilliant sunshine and overnight lows in the mid 50's. The full moon should look nice reflected over the water while I'm making smores at my campfire on the beach. Hope you enjoy your "warm" weather in KC! ;)
Doc,
I am jealous...I am by no means advocating hot weather...give me autumn!
Interesting that you see a breeze as a gorgeous woman. Now I have a whole new set of images to inspire me as I back up against the fan to dry off the difficult bits...
Funny!
I told dust last night that he was my inspiration for the numbered list and you were my inspiration for that last paragraph.
I say "inspiration" as in writing style. What would Darwin write? What would Dust do?
WWDD
WWDW
I often ask myself WWDD, then do it. I know that WWDW is beyond my insignificant comprehension.
I remember one hot night in KC waiting until 11pm to take a walk and it was still so hot I felt like I couldn't breath very well. I don't like it that hot. In Madrid last weekend the night was long, hot and miserable. No AC. I'm thinking we're investing in one for the bedroom at least when we get there. In Tarragona, now, there is a good breeze off the water and it cools down at night. Very pleasant and no freezing to death when you walk into the air conditioning of a restaurant or mall. There is some AC sometimes in stores but it's not down low.
I'm now taking three freaking showers a day. My clothes are wet because I sweat when I get dressed. The continual heat snuffs any life you may have. Air-conditioning is like gold. I wake-up grumpy because I'm hot, sweaty and lethargic. Our casa is stuffy until we get some sort of cross-breeze going. The stove is gas and heats up the house pretty quick. I sit under the fan at night to heal the boils on my skin because the choriza sausage is about 50 percent grease. WWDS? (what would Doc say?)
...all of a sudden, the nude beach is making sense.
Except some things should never be sunburnt!
Dar -
I think the Swirling Eddies may have had something to say about the "prickly heat". I can only say, stay cool with cool wet washclothes and a fan, stay in the shade, take your siesta - there is a reason all business and other activity ceases during the heat of the day. Use non-comedogenic soap like Dove or Lever. Your skin will eventually adjust, it just takes time. Drinking tons of water will also help (oops, you're in Spain where there is not tons of drinking water and everyone is always dehydrated; oh well, just do your best and pray for autumn to come quickly - its what I usually do.)
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