Steeeeeeam Heat
It's hot here. I mean really hot. Not in the triple digits, but with humidity thicker than gravy, it's plenty hot. And I sweat. A lot. With no provocation. I take two or three cold showers or sponge baths a day, and it's not enough. Sure, it's often raining, but when it's 90 degrees and pouring, it's like living in a fishbowl. A mildewy fishbowl inside a microwave.These days, getting out of my car with its pitiful air conditioning and stepping into the thick haze is enough to completely fog my glasses, and make me stumble around like the cartoon Li'l Orphan Annie. (I'm old. Get over it.) I'm gasping for breath in the oppressive steam-that-calls-itself-air.
So today, I got up, and of course it's still hot. It's the end of July at the southern tip of Kyushu. But it's DRY. The sun is shining, it's about 92 degrees, and it's DRY. Blue-skies-puffy-clouds-lets-fly-a-kite-or-film-a-movie dry. I practically danced out the door and into the car. Sure, the car was an oven, but it was a dry heat, and I did NOT break a sweat.
I ran my errands, did some work on base, got my hair cut, stood in the shade of a gazebo at the harbor's edge (Skin Cancer Girl here isn't taking any chances!) and watched a submarine come in or go out (I'd never seen one in real life before) with sailors lined up at attention along the curving spine. The flags were streaming against the impossibly blue sky, the harbor water sparkled as if it was not filled with flotsam and nasty stuff...it was a SPECTACULAR day!
Ran into a friend in the post office. Made the standard remarks, including "isn't it a wonderful day today?" I mean, after two solid weeks of rain, rain, humidity and rain, to have sunshine, blue skies, and DRY air...who wouldn't be thrilled?
Her response? "Oh, it's horrible! All this sun! I prefer it cloudy. I hate summer."
I was stunned. I mean, it's not as if either of us works outdoors. We were making our way from air conditioned building to air conditioned car to air conditioned building....and then, in her case, she and her kids were headed to the pool, where she'd sit in the lovely, astonishingly cool breeze under the awning while her sunscreen-slathered kids played in the sparkling water.
Glad I'm not responsible for her joy!
As for me, I found plenty today.
posted by Carolie @ 10:28 PM
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