Man, is it hot here. Even now, at the end of May, it’s over 80 degrees by nine in the morning. At least, it cools down a bit a night. If fact, last night, I think it went down to about 79.
Last year, we arrived in late July to what was apparently a “cold” summer for the mid-West. To this little Canadian, who’d been living under overcast Belgian skies for a couple of years, temperatures last summer felt like they ranged from hot and humid to VERY hot and humid, with a couple of highs that made it hard to breathe outdoors. Shortly after arriving last July, I observed that my daughter was panting... yes, panting! She was trying to see if it’s easier to cool down like a dog, since cooling down as a human was not working.
So, now we’re living our first real, mid-western summer. You really notice it in the full sun at the Cardinals game, when bald heads glitter with beads of sweat, kids wilt against sticky parents and spectators leak from every possible pore on their bodies. Last week, at the game, I felt like I’d showered in my clothes; they were so wet. I tried to slip paper napkins under my bare legs where they were stuck to the metal seat but my daughter caught me and said she was dying of embarrassment. When she looked the other way, I did it anyway because ... well, I guess my comfort is more important than her dignity!
I’m not even converting back to Celsius any more. It’s not worth it. I don’t need to. Hot is hot. I used to think it would be nice to turn off the air conditioner and sleep with the windows open at night. I tried it a couple of times, but I’d always forget to program the AC to come back on and my husband would wake up during the night in a panic, dreaming about being caught in a fire or suffocating.
This heat makes people behave differently. Take parking, for example. Parking lots here are massive. Many shopping malls have multi-storied parking garages with ample room for thousands and thousands of cars. Others have acres of paved land, neatly partitioned into wide, well-aligned spots. Naturally, you will look for a spot closest to the door, so you won’t have far to walk. After all, you drove your car for a reason; you don’t want to walk.
Ah, but no! Here, it’s the shady spots that are taken first – even the ones that are a mile from the store. These are clever people, you know. You see, if you don’t park in the shade, your car instantly becomes a convection oven that bakes you like a tin foil potato the minute you step foot back in it, even if your errand was only five minutes. I mean you could boil water and have a cup of tea in there! It doesn’t matter how long you’re out of your car or how cold the AC got the interior before you parked. When you re-enter, you will positively WILT.
And, how about clothes? At first, in April, I was thrilled to start wearing all the cute summer t-shirts and skirts that had been virtually untouched in Belgium. You see, Belgium never gets really hot. It’s what they call “moderate” (aka “overcast all the time”). In Belgium, you can pretty much wear the same set of clothes all year round. I was looking forward to four distinct seasons again. I want crisp autumn mornings! I want snow in winter, followed by warm spring breezes that hint of upcoming summer heat!
But, I’m in the mid-West (darlin’) so I guess I’d better get used to it. This is a two-shower-a-day kind of place! Ugh, where’s the shade...
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