Monday Musings...
Now THIS reminds me of a typical Summer morning in AUGUST:
--Temps are already in the upper 70s - with a high tickling 90 today.
--No one is outside (but me, doing my "chores").
Yep...another lazy, hazy, crazy day of summer (as Nat King Cole used to sing about).
I think I'll take it REAL easy on the alcoholic beverages, though.
Hot weather and alcohol don't mix to well in the body...anyone's body.
Better to quaff down a 1/2 gallon of LEMONADE...or some POWERADE (with lots of ice).
Funny how things change...take summers for example.
Used to be a time when we were ALL "invincible"...able to play unceasingly outside in sweltering heat and humidity without ANY serious repercussions. Our moms would have to go out and literally DRAG us inside (and those were days when not everyone had the luxury of air-conditioning).
No sir...all we had early on, were FANS...and plenty of them. We had small, oscillating fans for the bedrooms, larger box fans for the living room, and sometimes we stuck THOSE in the damn window to draw in the cooler night air upstairs (because, as we ALL know from our childhood...heat RISE...which means...that our POLITICIANS are the LARGEST contributors to GLOBAL WARMING...wow, who knew?).
There also was a time when working outdoors didn't bother us AS MUCH as it does today. Sure, we'd soak our clothes through in the midday heat, but we shrugged it all off, mainly because we KNEW we'd be getting home eventually...a home that FINALLY had air-conditioning...LOL!
Hell, I recall times hiking 20 miles (or more) in the summer heat...and not paying it no never mind...but that was when I was a lot younger.
And where is the time when we drove all over the place in vehicles WITHOUT the old A/C blowing away in our faces, hmm?
We have several generations that have grown up NOT KNOWING what "we" had to endure.
They're basically SPOILED now.
They can barely recall WINDOW air-conditioning units...they're all pretty much CENTRAL AIR "handling" systems these days, especially if you live in an apartment.
But, whatever the case...OUR generation made it through all of that.
Makes me wonder if "we" were made of sterner stuff... And THAT makes me wonder how the hell the pioneers of this nation made it. They didn't even know what ELECTRICITY was, let alone a fan. They only had WINDMILLS, and they were used to pumping water from a well.
Those folks couldn't just jump in the shower to "freshen up", either...not the way WE can today.
Can you imagine having to use an outhouse in the middle of a hot, humid summer day somewhere on some farmland in 19th century America? Bet'cha that place got REAL ripe..REAL fast.
Nowadays, it's all a lot different. We leave our artificially-cooled homes, get into our air-conditioned vehicles to drive to our air-conditioned jobs (if we're fortunate to work in such a place...I've worked BOTH sides of that fence, so it's not that big a deal to me...good solid sweat means a good, solid paycheck in MY book), or we go to the air-conditioned mall or store, then back to the car,and then home again.
We have our very own "circle of life" gig going on, don't we?
I will say ONE things about all this A/C stuff...it WILL play hell on the old sinuses, going indoors and outside multiple times in a day.
You have those buggers flexing "in and out" like a cheap accordion at a polka-fest!
And there have been times that I've personally gotten a sinus headache out of the mix...not a fun thing to get in summertime.
Come to think of it...one of the WORST things you can get is a SUMMER COLD.
Imagine getting CHILLED by a high fever in 90 degree heat!
Then, imagine you don't have any type of A/C to moderate the humidity (the cause of bellowing sinus attacks).
Summer USED to be one of my favorite seasons....used to be, that is.
I tend to opt for SPRING and FALL these days, with WINTER running a not-so-distant second.
I like the blossoming of springtime foliage, and I love the fall colors from all the trees.
And the temperatures tend to be a LOT more "moderate" (for ME, anyway).
Now,my Dad spent time in India during WW2, and he got USED to the heat (and being in a perpetual state of "dampness" for months), but even for him there came a time he'd prefer in the indoor coolness of the air-conditioning. And he gave me a maxim of sorts to remember:
"Winter is fine...you can ALWAYS put on MORE clothes, but in summer, you can ONLY take off SO MUCH before it gets "nasty" (and illegal). Yeah, Dad was never into becoming a nudist.
So, pardon me if I take a disliking to summer, in spite of all the fun I "used" to enjoy. Times have changed...and I have changed.
Call it that aging life-thermostat going bonkers...whatever.
I know what suits me, and what I can function normally in, as far as environmental requirements go.
But man, it sure would be nice to be able to thumb my nose at the summer heat and humidity ONE MORE TIME...like when I was 8 years old...WITHOUT the need of retreating into the air-conditioned inner-sanctum of of our house.
Then again, being 8 wasn't all that bad in LOTS of ways...like having the innocence back THEN that we all have lost along our journeys in life...Musta been all that HUMIDITY draining it out of us...Curse you, summer...LOL!
Be careful with the heat and humidity in YOUR neck of the woods, and, as always...
Stay safe out there, America.