Admittedly Canadians are known to be whiners especially about the weather. It’s either too cold, too rainy, or too hot. There are a few days most of us consider perfect, low humidity and 80 degrees (or 25 celcius). But seriously this week it was brutally hot and humid (97 with humidity it felt like 107). We are not acclimatized to this heat and we are all suffering, some of us more than others.
My husband and I on vacation this week and made the four hour trek to the cottage. It was already very hot when we left but when we arrived the cottage was stifling for lack of a better word. Perhaps “sweat house” would be more accurate. We left an air conditioned home for this. We were glad to see my Mother-in-law and the surroundings are beautiful but the overwhelming heat was the elephant in the room.
The lake was very pleasant but the horse flies and deer flies were everywhere. We looked like one of those segments on “funniest videos” trying to get back to the cottage without getting munched. Sleep was only possible while naked in front of the fan set to full “eyeball drying” speed. My husband thought about sleeping in the car with the air conditioning - that’s how desperate he was.
The poor doggies thought they had gone to hell. Our Labradors are used to their air conditioned house and they panted so hard and so fast that it was worrisome. Finally we took them for a swim in the lake but not before I covered myself in bug repellent. The hilarious part was Zoe (the hunter) went in hunting for weeds only to bring them back as if they were ducks and Serena (the country bumpkin) stayed on shore and waited for her to come back.
We sat in the dark at night, drinking wine and telling stories. Periodically I would get up and wet my head in the bath and refresh the cold cloth for my forehead.
It just goes to prove that when we are distracted by physical discomfort, our mind is preoccupied whether it be the heat, pain or hunger. It makes it hard to concentrate or enjoy activities. For people with asthma or the elderly the heat can be dangerous rather than simply uncomfortable.
On the third day we decided to throw in the towel and return to our air conditioning and I can’t tell you how relieved I was. Yes I am indeed a whiner but if facebook is any indication, I’m in good company. One of my friends updated her status to “one day closer to my retirement in Alaska”.
My favorite movie is the Wizard of Oz and if I had ruby slippers I would have tapped my heels together and said “there’s no place like home, there’s no place like home”……..
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{ 6 comments… read them below or add one }
I live in southern Mississippi, and it’s been very hot here too. Although I’m my family isn’t as uncomfortable as the folks in Canada. We are used to hot, humid summers in the South
Complete with huge bugs!
As a fellow Canadian I can definitely empathize with the recent heat wave. It has been rather unpleasant and yet indoors in AC it wasn’t too bad. I had to go out to destress the gardens and that was enough although we did spend one enjoyable day during the heat wave on the boat at the swim hole. Dealing with horse flies on top of the heat wave would just not be my cup of tea! And that’s after years of camping
We live on the water year round but thankfully seldom have horseflies. Sorry to hear you had to cut your vacation short too. Hopefully your were able to spend the rest of the time relaxing at home!
Vickie, thanks for sharing. Yes we are not used to this for sure. The last couple of summers have been pretty cool. Last night I played singles tennis at over 90 degrees so I guess I’m adjusting to the temperature. I hope you get relief soon.
Mom, the rest of the vacation was great. Read alot, wrote my blog and relaxed. Thanks for stopping by….
I hate to hear about the complaints of the high heat and humidity. I don’t even use an A/C. It harms the environment slowly. But think about it, when an entire city of home, offices, etc. are using the A/C, how fast are we (the human race) ruining our own environment and contributing to the humidity! I recently heard how many years ago NATO had a meeting to stop A/C in cars and turn of refridgerators!
Enjoy the heat and humidity - it allows you to sweat and opens all the pores of your body! It aids in some sort of weight loss as well; that’s my secret of staying slim!
Early Childhood Resources, thank you for your input. I respect your opinion. Weight loss would definitely be a plus for me…..