The weatherman wouldn't have survived in Old Testament times. Back then, if a prophet was wrong, he was put to death.Our weatherman said the heat would lessen and there was a mere 10% chance of rain.
It's gotten hotter, and it's rained.
Somebody, get a kite. I'll get a key. We'll have the news station cover the weatherman pulling a Benjamin Franklin. (Not really. Ben didn't actually fly the kite. He had a family member do it for him!)
I'm spoiled by Southern California's balmy weather. We have one season a year: Picture Perfect.
So imagine our surprise when we got a heat wave paired with nasty humidity. The muggy, oppressive weather reminds me of Oklahoma/Louisianna/Georgia. Dry lightning is striking, worrying the firefighters since the drought has left vast tracts of land ready to go up in flames. Suddenly, rain falls--but not enough to soak the land. It's just enough to turn our world into a sweltering sauna.
I think of my relatives, farming in this kind of weather back in the 1800s with no air conditioned tractors.
And those poor women who had to wear layers of clothes and cook over cast iron stoves!
Misery washes over me to think of others who have ancestors who were on plantations, fighting heat and malaria. 
And I think of how so many of our WritesPassage sisters who live in this icky-sticky weather now. How much ice do you go through in a day? How many showers do you take? Even though we're not supposed to use talc, do you cave into the temptation and dump on a pound or two each day? Is the ice cream man your hero? What are your stay-cool tricks?
For sure, this spell of weather has me glad I'm bound for heaven. The alternative is unthinkable!
Heading to the fridge for a popsicle,
Cathy
Cathy, when our son was about 13, my late husband and I decided to stop by and visit some of the plantations on our family vacation to the South. It was the middle of July, and it was super HOT! As we viewed the long, long rows that used to be cotton that was picked by those poor people, we wondered just how did they do it! As you mentioned, the heat alone was enough!
ReplyDeleteWhat was suppose to be an on site history lesson for our son (along with helping him to appreciate his advantages) ended up being a lesson for us! It helped us to not "sweat" (there ya go PJ beat you to the "pun")the small stuff. To be thankful and content where God had us and appreciate our ancestors so much more for their strength and endurance.
By the way I'm staying cool by being inside, and eating lots of Italian Water Ice...yummy! :-)
During this heatwave, I've been thinking about how people survived without air conditioning and worked in that hot sun, too, Cathy. We are so fortunate in this day and age. It only takes having our electricity go out for a few hours before we're reminded of our blessings! I'm keeping cool by going outdoors as little as possible. LOL.
ReplyDeletePerhaps if you Ladies could have seen the front page of our Adelaide Advertiser on Friday you would have felt remarkably cool or even COLD!!
ReplyDeleteWe had SOOO much hail in our beautiful Barossa Valley, that the entire area looked a beautiful scene of a "Winter Christmas". The children were making "Icemen."
Last week our local creek (normally a sivery trickle) was a raging torrent,something I haven't seen in our area for a long time.
We thank God for our rainfall because we really needed it and our hills are a beautiful green.
I will pray for rain and relief from the extreme heatwave you are suffering. We know only too well how hard those weather conditions are, to cope with!
I do feel sorry for what our early settlers had to endure, especially in the heat and I hasten to say,I'm glad I wasn't one of them!!
As some of you ladies say, "Love Y'all.":)
Here in PA, it's now cooler, but H.U.M.I.D as all get out...I prefer this cool, cloudy weather to how blistering hot & humid it had been for weeks...ceiling fans in every room of our house *does* help generate a nice breeze. And our basement is wonderfully cool, so I spend as much time down there as I can! LOL
ReplyDeleteThanks for this post today, Cathy--and enjoyed reading everyone's replies too (chuckling at Veronica's pun--Good one, sweet friend!). I also don't know HOW those workers picked cotton and did other outdoor labor for hours on end in the heat years ago...makes me feel very sad (and weak) to even think about. I count my blessings everyday, and living in Georgia my entire life, air conditioning is something I'm extremely thankful for (especially in July/August each year). Actually, though...the humidity affects me worse than the heat--it just feels hard to breathe outside when it's super humid (combined with the heat). ~ Drinking cold water (or southern-sweet iced tea!) is my favorite way to keep cool in the summer. In fact, think I'll go grab a glass right now! Hugs, Patti Jo
ReplyDeleteThe Victorians had a saying: "Horses sweat, men perspire, and women glow." *SNORT* The humidity makes us glow so much, the poor angels must be wearing sunglasses to block the glare!
ReplyDeleteCalifornians don't have basements, so Im envioius of Meghan's respite. I'm doing the Judy thing: staying indoors with the air conditioning AND fans on. Once upon a time, I'd have made sweet tea, but Chris became diabetic, so that's out, too.
Does anyone else do the damp bandana thing? If you whirl it in the air, evaporative cooling takes place, and it's icy cold.
Now I'm going to imagine I'm with Rosie, picturing that wintery landscape...
Cathy
In the words of my grandmother - "Oh my stars and garters!" It's been sooooo humid here in Montana - at least our area. Today was 68% which for us is like breathing under water. I remember when we looked forward to the humidity dropping to that in Kansas. But I moved to Montana partly to get away from the humidity and so when we get above 30% I really start to feel it. Add to that that Idaho is blowing its forest fire smoke over here and well...it's best I stay indoors with air conditioning. Which thankfully - we have, but a lot of Montanans don't. :( Guess we won't be seeking refuge at Cathy's house. :D
ReplyDeleteWeather seems to be a popular topic lately, lol. I am from Upstate New York and we would gladly go for a big rainstorm. We have not had rain in weeks. We have those one or two minute sprinkle teases then it stops and the sun comes out(or like this morning it sprinkled while still being sunny), and its hot. People have stopped mowing because the grass is already burnt and dead. I do not remember having such a summer like this.
ReplyDeleteLOL! Tracie, my grandmother said, "My stars!" But she was too proper to add on the garters.
ReplyDeleteFreddi, isn't it weird to have warm raindrops falling out of a cloudless sky? We're having that, too. Hubby is babying the front lawn. The back yard is a pathetic dirt patch, too.
Cath