Hot Take

It is hot out there. I hear that the chickens are laying pre-boiled eggs and trees are chasing dogs down. Yes, we all knew this time was coming, every summer I can remember has a couple of really hot stretches and this summer isn’t the exception. Even though I know the hot weather is coming, it still does not mean I must like it. I know variety is the spice of life and the great thing about Kansas is our variety of weather, but I am just not a fan of extreme heat.

I would guess it is because I am not made for heat. I am fairly well insulated and the cold really doesn’t bother me too much (although I would guess at some point next winter I will be whining about that too) so I am probably more adapted to colder weather. I fully subscribe to the theory that in cold weather you can always put more clothes on but in hot weather there are only so many clothes you can (or in most cases) should take off. You all can thank me for that later.

I am just not a big fan of this time of the year when you walk out the door and the heat just saps everything out of you. When you can feel that heat radiating up from the ground through your shoes and you immediately start to sweat profusely. Each breath brings in hot air (again, I know many of you are thinking he can put out hot air, why can’t he breathe a little of it back in) and your eyeballs feel hot.

This is also the time of the year that make it intolerable to listen to the weather forecasts. I am not sure who invented the heat index but I do know where they can put it. I don’t need you to tell me that it is miserably hot outside and I really don’t need you to tell me it feels hotter than the temperature tells me it is. The heat index does me no good and makes it seem worse.

The other thing I snicker at is when they tell us it is dangerous outside and to stay inside if at all possible. I guess that might be possible if you have a job like maybe a TV weather person but those of us who make our living outside don’t really have a choice. Sure, we can put things like chores off until later when it might be a little cooler (or probably less miserably hot would be a better way to put it) but for the most part we don’t have a choice. We learn to deal with it.

When the weather gets like this I start to feel sorry for myself, especially if we have had something like a breakdown where I have spent most of the time in the sun. I feel sorry for myself until I come up to a road construction zone, then I decide that maybe I don’t have it so bad after all. I bet they know it is miserably hot and don’t need someone telling them what the heat index is. Let’s be honest, after about 95 degrees it really doesn’t matter how much higher the thermometer or the index say it is.

One thing is for sure, this is a case of how the good old days maybe weren’t so great. I remember the days pre-air conditioning. When you would lay awake at night, in front of the fan, in a pool of sweat hoping for just a few hours of sleep. Coming into the house for lunch or supper and wondering if it wouldn’t be cooler outside. I also remember tractors without cabs and feeling the heat radiate from the engine. Air conditioning is great if it works. We were a darn sight tougher, that is for sure. Although I am much happier to be softer and better rested.

Oh, I know at some point this winter when it is minus whatever and the same blasted weather person is talking about wind chill (which is akin to heat index in importance) we will be wishing for the heat. More proof that we should really enjoy those few fleeting days in the spring and the fall when the temperature is just right. I guess the extremes help us appreciate the two or three good weather days we have in Kansas each year.

This weather isn’t so bad though. In fact, it does have a couple of bonuses. It has been great haying weather if you don’t break down too much. We are really rolling through the prairie hay. Again, I am so thankful for modern conveniences like big round bales. I am sure there are a few other advantages to hot weather, although I am having trouble coming up with them right now. But ask me later, I am sure that by five o’clock today I will have come up with something.