Wicked Wednesdays

Ten days into the ‘Ber months and all I want is cooler weather! But, living in SE Texas, that won’t be happening for a while yet.

I grew up in Arizona where the summers turned asphalt to liquid, your flip flops stuck to it like glue with every step you would take, and you could fry an egg on the hood of your car. NO LIE! I tried it one year just to prove it was a bunch of bullshit, so you can imagine my surprise when it actually happened.

It wasn’t until I became an adult that we actually had real AC in our house. Most places that weren’t commercial buildings like a store or an office building had what they called “swamp coolers”. Ugh! I hated those things. They were a big box with 4 removable panels where you put the “filters” that sat on top of the house. There was a copper tube that pumped water to wet the fibrous filters and when the unit was turned on, it was supposed to cool the interior of the house. And Gods did they stink … you couldn’t describe it to someone who had never experienced it, but those of us who did … yeah.

It did try its best to cool off the house though, but during the monsoons when the humidity was as high as the temperature, it was a losing battle. The only semblence of relief came way after the sun went down and the desert cooled off to almost frigid temperatures. Yes, it does get that cold in the desert at night even in the summer.

But fall and spring have always been my favorite seasons, simply because Spring brought the renewal of leaves and flowers and gave us a short window of delightful temperatures before the death valley of summer.

Fall on the other hand gave us something to look forward to after a grueling summer sweating your balls off just walking to get into your car (some of those didn’t have AC either and that’s a different story). Fall was cooler weather, campfires on the ranch wrapped in a blanket to help keep you warm, more outside activities with family and friends, the perfect prelude to the coming holidays.

After moving to Maryland, I really understood what the “Ber months were all about. The leaves are changing colors to some of the most vibrant shades I have ever seen, the Renaissance Faire with friends, trips to the Inner Harbor in Baltimore, Friendsgiving where those with no family came together with their chosen family to eat, drink and be merry.

Now, I’m here in SE Texas, where the high for tomorrow is supposed to be 94, with the humidity high enough that it will be difficult for me to breathe. BUT! It’s supposed to start gradually cooling off, so I am hopeful that once again, we can spend time outside enjoying sitting around the fire with those we love.