Meet (Heat) Me In St. Louie!

The heat is on! St. Louis is hot, hot, hot…..

Wow, it’s hot, hot, hot…

Today (6/23/09) my car’s thermometer registered 100 degrees as I drove home from having new tires put on. On the radio, the broadcaster declared that the heat index was 106. That means that even though officially, the temperature at the time was 97 degrees, it felt like 106 degrees due to the high humidity. Hot, hot, hot………

So, what should one do when it is so hot? Stay cool and don’t be a fool about ignoring the heat. Or, maybe take the other approach. What other approach, you ask? Embrace the heat. Similar to dealing with cabin fever in the Winter. Assuming access to air-conditioning, stay in and do things that don’t require being outside.

But, embrace the heat? Why not? How about those items that are too stiff in normal weather. :-) For example, those stiff plastic hoses you have always wanted to organize? Set them outside on a day like today and in less than an hour they will be “loose as a goose.” Scrubbing decks and patios is a most appropriate task on hot days. Writing blogs, organizing closets and cleaning basements are great things to do inside when St. Louie turns up the heat. The only minor problem with this approach is the dreaded “cabin fever.”

You can’t change it by looking at it.

I remember what it was like before air-conditioning. At least, before I lived in a house that had air-conditioning. I was raised on a farm in an old house that had no air-conditioning, not even an attic fan. We had a few small oscillating fans – that was all. We also had a big front porch that we would often spend time on until late at night. When I went to bed, I remember misting my sheets and then hopping in bed and hoping that I would fall asleep before the misted sheets dried. I also remember taking long liesurely walks down our long country road during the late evenings when it was uncomfortably warm. These are examples of how I fought the heat before air-conditioning.

So now I have air-conditioning and how do I “fight” the heat. Well, instead of going outside to cool off or restrict myself to the coolest spot in the house, I spend my hot time in the house or cabin, therefore, cabin fever. And, what do I do to combat cabin fever? As I mentioned above, I do the same thing I do in the winter. What have we accomplished technologically since I was a young boy? We can now have cabin fever two out of the four seasons. Yea!

Tonight, (6/24/09) I went to Blueberry Hill for, no, not a burger, but this time a nice dish of red beans and rice. Yummy, I pretended I was in New Orleans! Why did I mention this. Cabin Fever, of course. One of the main cures for cabin fever is to get out of the cabin. I did it and I feel cured. :-)

I have heard the following statements many times, but I couldn’t help but think of them now. “If you don’t like the weather in St. Louis, then just wait, because it will change into something you do like.” AND, “The reason people from St. Louis are interesting is because they are used to constant change – the weather.”