The Next Heat Wave

I know I already talked about a heat wave a few weeks ago, but here we are, the middle of July, and are facing a much stronger and longer heat wave in Connecticut and other parts of the Northeast.  Most people also already know that I am not a big fan of heat and humidity.  The heat alone wouldn't be so bad, but add in humidity that hovers between 70% and 80% and being outside becomes downright miserable.  OK, so perhaps it isn't completely miserable, I guess it could be worse, but its definitely not that much fun to work in.  This morning I took my dogs on their usual morning walk.  Normally, at 4 in the morning, its much cooler than it is at any other time, and it was as usual.  However, the air felt, looked, and smelt stagnant, heavy, and loaded with moisture.  There were wisps of low lying clouds, banks of humidity, just hovering periodically above the street, largely unmoving, just poised and waiting for something to move them.  It was still a nice walk, especially since I didn't start sweating at all, but just feeling the air made me dread going to work just a little bit when I know that the forecast temperature of 90-95 will most likely be exceeded.  Its usually the case these days, the meteorologists tell us that the temperature will be 90 and it usually gets at least 2-3 degrees hotter, not that big of a difference, but enough to push out that little extra bit of sweat.  All I know is that I do have a lot to be thankful for.  In terms of my job, the work isn't excessively hard in terms of lifting and moving heavy objects or working in direct sun, so I'll not complain too much.  I could have a job as a roofer in the direct sun for the whole day, sweating buckets as a black roof heats up the air around it even more than is necessary.  I'm glad I don't work as a lineman with bulky clothes up on a lift working on electrical wires.  That would just be miserable.  And lets not forget the firemen who have to don heavy protective gear and fight fires on days where it feels like you might burn up just from being outside.  So I definitely could have it worse.  However, none of that will make the 90 degree heat feel welcome today, tomorrow, or for that matter the rest of the week.  It will be a long haul, but I'll make it through somehow. 

 

I am also quite glad that we have A/C units installed in our house.  With a pregnant wife and 21 month old son, I couldn't imagine leaving them in a house without A/C.  If we didn't have it, they could always go to my parents house, hang out there and cool off in the pool, but that won't be absolutely necessary.   We have discovered that our son has a response to heat and humidity much like I do, the sweat just starts oozing out of his pores.  Yesterday afternoon we ventured outside for a little bit, were out there for about half an hour, and with five minutes, it looked he had jumped in a pool and had gotten out without drying off.  He never looked miserable, he was just dripping sweat.  I would apologize to him for giving him some of my genes, but on the flip side, he will do well in the winter when it gets really cold.  Like me, I have a feeling that he will love the cold, at least when he gets older.  For now, though, we will simply dream of winter and snow and try to imagine that today and the rest of the week are cooler than it actually will be.  Needless to say, I will be taking plenty of water breaks today, time in the shade to settle down and cool off before beginning to work again and getting drenched.  I only hope that there is a little bit of a breeze today to help cool things off.  I doubt it, but I can hope.  There is one other benefit that I am looking forward to today and that is I will be working closer to the shoreline than where I live.  As is normally the case, the shoreline should be about 5 degrees cooler than it will be at my house.  I will take any little break that I can from the heat and humidity and will embrace the fact that I will be working in marginally cooler weather.  For now, I must go and prepare myself for the day, pack lots of ice and water, and of course a little bit of food.  I never eat as much on days like today, mostly because I am just not as hungry after drinking tons of water.  Oh well, bring on the sweat mother nature, I am ready for you (maybe)!