Today was the first day of heat this year in Madison. Sweaty, sticky, cold-shower heat. It’s comical really – we Wisconsinites don’t really know what to do. We’re used to sunny days meaning: get outdoors! lay in the sunshine! go to the terrace and bask in the beauty of summer with some ice cream! But when it’s this hot – this humid… we don’t know what to do. I want to enjoy the day, but my face has a perpetual sheen of sweat, my hairline continuously damp.
Eric was here this weekend, like usual, and we all had moments where we were sitting in the living room, staring blankly, wanting to entertain ourselves in some form of game or conversation, but instead focusing on how, even though the fan was blowing, our uncovered shins were clammy with sweat. Our shins! Why in the world would a shin sweat? On our walk to Chipotle, Eric and I rested on an air vent in the sidewalk. I normally avoid this like the plague because the air grosses me out – but the vent was cool and the air soared right up our shorts. Passersby smiles were both of amusment and jealousy.
We’re irritable. The weather makes people react differently. Eric and I alternated between holding hands and not, what level of heat can we hold between our palms before it was uncomfortable? The good-bye cuddle lasted approximately 3 minutes before we determined that the embrace was sufficient. Our tempers flared and stewed throughout the day, riding the waves of our physical discomfort.
But, ultimately, the heat reminds us of summer and the joys that it holds. Our air condintioning is not on. I don’t want it on. Fresh air and heat – that’s the meaning of summer. But gosh, it really is miserable.
The weather here was just the opposite, yet equally miserable. It was unpleasantly windy all day–the kind of wind that bites your ears and acts like a barrier as you try to trudge through it. When Fab & I decided we absolutely needed a brief walk, it started to SNOW. It’s almost June & we live in Arizona. Ridiculous.