Dog Days of August

It's hot. And humid. It's been hot and humid for three weeks. I think it's going to be hot and humid until well into September Not one month of the dog days of August but two and a half. I can't prove it, but I think this is what global warming means here on the Atlantic seaboard -- hot and humid interspersed with occasional thunderstorms, sometime violent. UGH!

These are what I all three-shower days. If it's really humid in the morning I work up a sweat brushing my teeth. Then I need a quick shower so I can put clothes on a non-sweaty body. The shower can be as short as a minute. When I'm out during the day if I've had to deal with either the subway or a walk of more than a couple of blocks, I'm sweaty when I come in -- another shower. Come time for bed, I want to feel nice when I put on my pajamas - another shower. I don't waste much water. One of those showers, maybe more, will include soap and maybe shampoo. But their real purpose is just to make the skin cool and that only takes a minute or so.

It could be worse and is worse a lot of places -- the places that are having wild fires, the places that were submerged in horrid floods earlier, the places where the storms are really fierce. When one is mopping the brow and cursing the late subway train, trying to walk in the shade and wishing for a breeze, it's hard to think about places that you are glad you don't live.

End of complaint -- it's a time to truly enjoy cold water, iced tea, lemonade, watermelon, gazpacho, crisp chef's salads and simply washing the hands under cold running water. I haven't forgotten about all the iced coffee drinkers but I'm not one. But I did forget briefly about sherbet which is much more cooling than ice creams ... and then there's lakes and oceans and rivers. I promise I will not complain about the weather again ... in the near future.