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Thursday, July 5, 2012

Mother Nature Continues to Torment Us

Oh, it’s just too hot to write.

You do it.

Minneapolis, land of the free and home of the sweat-stained, is in the midst of a wave of heat and humidity normally enjoyed only by those living on the edges of bayous or by those trapped in steam baths. The sky is a pale, murky blue; and the air quality such that it is advised that the old, the young, those with one or more limbs, and those who depend upon breathing to maintain life stay indoors.

The plants, on the other hand, thrive.

The bus remains a joy, of course, a continually shifting group of relieved commuters. Like the looks of contentment that accompany boarding a warm, dry bus during a snowstorm, the commuters climbing aboard these days smile as the cool, dry air hits their moisture-beaded foreheads.

Gratitude is a lovely thing.

Summer in Minneapolis can be brutal. Umbrellas are being used for shade, morons are arrested almost daily for leaving children and dogs in parked cars (“But I cracked the window!”) and talcum powder is the new black.

And like three-quarters of the people I talk to, the slow approach of autumn is eyed hopefully, visions of squirreled-away sweaters, socks, and jaunty hats dancing in our heat-addled heads.

The four seasons roll on.

38 comments:

Lynn said...

Yeah - it's been over 100 degrees for several days in Atlanta now. Yesterday was downright cool at 98. :) I am looking forward to fall myself.

Buttons Thoughts said...

Hope you keep your "cool" Pearl. B

mermaid gallery said...

well up here in the mountains of Canada...the rains have gone on forever....we are just getting our first taste of warmth and it feels fabulous....i wonder where the weather has been perfect?....

Simply Suthern said...

What are the other one quarter people eyeing?

Starting Over, Accepting Changes - Maybe said...

It is breath-taking hot here also. To quote The Wicked Witch from the West, "I'm melting. Melting! What a world, what a world."

Shelly said...

Down here, we have four seasons, too: almost summer, summer, deep summer, and just this side of hell.

Linda O'Connell said...

106 degrees in St. Louis and some nut and his girlfriend are riding bikes. If they weren't wearing helmets, I'd swear their brains were fried.

Nessa Locke said...

It's so hot here, we've taken to mowing our lawns at six in the morning.

terlee said...

The worst part is July and August--the hottest, steamiest, most miserable months--are still ahead of us. Ugh.

I'm going to go lay on the floor with the dogs now, and imagine a cool, crisp Autumn morning...

Anonymous said...

We've only just nicely gotten into summer and this is our second heat wave. Three months from now we'll be whining and saying, "I wish it was sitting on the porch with a cup of coffee weather.". We're just never satisfied.

jenny_o said...

The best (and only) defense against summer that I have come up with is to refrain from complaining the other three seasons, and then I whine like anything during the heat and humidity :)

TexWisGirl said...

talcum powder is the new black. ha ha ha!

stephen Hayes said...

So many people across the country are suffering due to the weather and I feel sorry for them, but today in Portland it's going to finally reach 80 degrees and I'm really looking forward to it.

esbboston said...

I was confused, did you want the words
"... as the cool, dry hair hits their ..."
to reaLLy be
"... as the cool, dry air hits their ...".

I have suffered hair hitting and air hitting by growing up in a large family. I realized this may be construed as splitting h+airs.

Bodaciousboomer said...

Welcome to Houston weather Miss Pearl. It's like that here about 400 days a year.

Try dredging yourself in cornstarch when you get outta the shower, before you get dressed. Sometimes it helps.

Unknown said...

um...it's 68 and cloudy in San Diego..... don't hate me!!!!!!

Pat said...

Sodden and chilled - we are no where near that state yet - if ever.
Yet tis July!

fmcgmccllc said...

Yepper, it has been very similar to Shanghai weather here in SE Michigan recently. Hot and Humid and crappy.

vanilla said...

I don't get why this is universal: idiots everywhere who leave tykes and pooches in automobiles. Ninety outside the car easily translates to 120 inside. How can anyone not know this? Oh, idiots.

Along with "I left the windows cracked," is also "I was only gone for a minute."

Leenie said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Unknown said...

I won't let myself look forward to fall because of what follows!

Cedar View Paint Horses said...

Yah, Pearl. But dontcha know, it's not just the heat, but that gosh darned humidity.

100 right on the dot over here. We're gonna go catch a movie and a tavern with cold a/c. Just chill.

Ms Sparrow said...

Yeah, it's hot here is St Paul too.
We shall weather this weather together! Skoal!

Chain Stitch Crochet said...

I could be a smart ass and say that we southerners are used to it but truth is that it is brutal and ac is a commodity that we covet greatly. I know there are a lot of northerners that don't have ac and I pity them. And I hope there is a dedicated patrol for those idiots who leave anyone 2 legged or 4 legged in cars. It always amazes me how stupid people can be.

Indigo Roth said...

Hey Pearl! Fear not, you'll be waist deep in snow and hating it in what will feel like a week or two. Roth x

Joanne Noragon said...

Worse than the weather is the weather radio. I decided to get one, the number of tornados having increased exponentially and the last one passing less than five miles from home. The damn thing has no consideration. If there is a severe weather alert, the alarm goes off. 9 pm. 10 pm. midnight. This morning it went off about 5 am. I turned it off. I'll blow away.

Jono said...

It's much cooler up here on the North Shore. Come and escape the concrete sweatland.

Gigi said...

I hear you, Pearl. We've been hovering around 100 for the past five or six days. "They" say it will get to 85 next week. I'm giddy with excitement.

Unknown said...

no matter where we live, the weather is ALWAYS the NUMBER ONE topic of conversation. I guess the only way to have perfect weather is to live in an artificial bubble. Here in Maine, it's been either raining cats and dogs or the sun is releasing the steam out of the sodden ground. It's sauna time in DownEast Maine.
Don't melt completely, Pearl. We'd miss you.
Rosemary

ThreeOldKeys said...

i enjoyed your post, Pearl, but some of the text is melting down into my keyboard. i can hardly read the last few lines.

so you're going to a Frankie Valli concert? take care ... it's ho

t

out

t
h
ere
...
.

Twisted Scottish Bastard said...

4 seasons?
You are so lucky.
Down here in NZ we get two.
1. Cold, windy, wet.
2. Cold, windy, wet with a high chance of melanoma.

Oh, did I mention the Richter 7 earthquake 2 days ago?

Just to add a bt of variety.

Lin said...

Yeah, but my plants are not surviving this heat wave. I am DONE with this summer and the heat. I swear I am turning into a raisin. :(

River said...

We get that kind if heat here in Aus from late October to the end of May. We don't get high humidity until about February though and it's usually dry again by late March. Then we get our glorious warm autumn and our cold sunny winters.

Anonymous said...

I hate the morons that leave dogs and children inside the car. Frankie, my beautiful pooch, does not travel with me unless it is below eighty degrees. I always park in the shade, with the window rolled down completely. He wears a seat belt, so he couldn't get out of the car if he tried.

Tempo said...

Thats a new record for you Pearl, and one I think will take you a long time to beat...You got me to laugh out loud in 10 words.
I'll be feeling just like you in November but for now we have the heaters on and expect one of the coldest nights so far this season. Around -3C (26F)
Yes, I know thats rubbish compared to your winters but thats one of the best reasons for living here.

Tom G. said...

Remind me again why we live in a place where the weather tries to kill us in 3 out of 4 seasons?

the walking man said...

Rolling on is one thing, rolling right on over us is another all together.

Perpetua said...

I wish I could swap you our unseasonable cold and rain for some of yous heat, Pearl. The temperature here has been struggling to reach 60F some days - in July! Hope it cools down for you soon.