Well. It's officially the time of year to get out of the desert, and wouldn't you know, school has gone and started for Mr. C, so we're stuck here. I'm real happy about that, and if you're reading this from anywhere in our 117 degree valley, I'm sure you real glad to be stuck here too.
Dear LORD it's hot. We've all been stuck inside because going anywhere in the car means that you boil your skin for a good ten minutes before the AC kicks in. It's true that summer here in the Coachella Valley is similar to having a snowed-in winter. We are all getting a bit of cabin fever to prove it:
- Yesterday, it was 3 pm before I made PG finally go and brush her hair.
- I can no longer tell the difference between the kids' pajamas and their real clothes- they started going to bed and waking up in the same thing, and now their loungewear blurs right in with their play clothes.
- We have watched so many movies. So many. I shudder to think about what our cable bill will be this month. Whoever the CEO of Time Warner Cable is, I'm sure he's enjoying his amazing beach getaway in the Maldives, footed by us and our contributions to On Demand.
And the evening new with it's stupid commercial teases about the weather. "A cool down is on the way! See it here, at 11." Such an announcement gets me excited. A glimmer of hope floats, just there, out of my reach, and I think... I can get it! Yes, there is hope! There's a cool down coming! Hallelujah! Tears of joy slide down my sweaty face, mixing with the perspiration there..... and then I find out that "cool down" means we're going from a scorching 115 to a mere blistering 110. What the hell, News Channel 3? Now I want to harm you. I really do.
I've gone delusional. Tonight, as I type this, there is a pot of red beans and rice simmering on the stove. I also made cornbread. Comfort food. Winter food, because I need to at least imagine that what lurks outside in the atmosphere is not hot, steamy air that feels like you're standing in front of a jet plane's engine, no. No, let's say that it's a cool, crisp cold front that snaps at my skin when I step outside and requires me to wear a flannel and... boots. Beloved boots! How I love wearing a good pair of boots with jeans and a flowing cardigan.
Alas. The reality is that around here, December is the first month we can really get away with wearing jeans and boots..... long past the days of pumpkins and orange leaves. We never get orange leaves, anyway. Out here in the desert, we mostly pretend Fall. We burn pumpkin-scented candles while the air conditioners push cooling air through the vents in our homes. We make apple pie and try to ignore the fact that the a la mode is melting faster than it should into a creamy pool at the base of the plate. Sometimes, we even put on the boots and sweaters while it's still in the 90's. We just sweat through it all and go on pretending...la,la,la. Happy Fall everyone!
It's a miserable thing, this heat. It messes with your mind. It clamps down on you and worms its way into your perspective. Before you know it, ninety five degrees starts feeling like "good weather" to you, and all your friends who live in normal places think that you're weird.
But what can you do about it? It's like this song I used to sing at camp when I was a kid: you can't go under it, you can't go over it, you can't go around it, you gotta go through it.
So through it we shall go.
But don't ask me to be happy about it.
No comments:
Post a Comment