Wednesday, June 27, 2007

If You Can't Take the Heat...

Note: I began this post immediately after returning from vacation at the beginning of July, but never finished it until now.

I can't take the heat!

I remember as a child, I took a trip with my Dad to Arizona. I think it was some sort of business trip and I got to go with him in the summertime. I remember staying and Granny and Bopa's and visiting the Rustands and that is about it. I also distinctly remember at one point complaining profusely about how hot I was.

My Dad responded "Ty, you just don't do well in the heat," so matter-of-factly that I was instantly convinced of the statement's truth . I had learned something important about my self that day: I don't do well in the heat!

During the first day of our vacation this summer, which commenced in the Southern Nevada desert and took us eventually to the arid regions of the Arizona highlands, I became incredibly dehydrated by the end of the first day. I got a "dehydration headache" that I couldn't seem to shake no matter how much water I drank.

(I asked Jeff for a medical explanation of my throbbing head woes. Why didn't pounding lots of fluids make it go away? He tried nobly to provide a plausible answer, but I didn't feel totally satisfied... )

I'm just not used to the kind of place where you are almost constantly sweating. I don't have enough time in my day to be constantly worrying about drinking enough fluids. I think after a few days in Iron Springs, I got a little more used to the hot weather. But I was about to experience a step change of heat intensity.

Next we headed for fabulous Las Vegas. During the days, the temperature averaged around 100 to 105 degrees F. That bugged me whenever we were outside for very long, except when we were in the pool. That is perfect swimming weather. The day we left Las Vegas (July 4th) it got up to 116. That is too hot for human habitation in my opinion. I watched this Mexican dude mow a lawn at midday with a hooded black sweatshirt and heavy jeans on. I'm not sure why.

You can imagine that we were excited to get back to our very moderate Western Washington weather, but a few days after we got back, the temperature got up to the upper 90's for a few days in a row. That is a big deal for us because we don't have air conditioning. I got home from work one day and it was 93 degrees in the house....

Fortunately, things have cooled off to very comfortable mid to high 70's during the days lately. That is just right for me. Dana says that she used to be just fine in the hot weather, but since she married me she has gone soft. Now she has just as much trouble as me in the heat...well, almost.

14 comments:

Tankfos said...

I also dislike incredible heat!!! I was thinking as we were driving back from Iron Springs this summer, Why would anyone want to live in Phoenix? Who the heck settled there? It makes no sense, the rest of us are suffering from their poor decision.

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Danalin said...

It's true, I've gone soft. Upstate New York had great temperatures in the summer and Washington is even better! I don't think I could ever go back to living in that climate again.

Here in Washington (as Ty mentioned) we only get a few days a summer where we think, "Why in the world do we not have air conditioning?!" Tyler got home from work and I said, "We have GOT to get out of here!" Since we're a one-car family, Max and I had been doing whatever we could that day to keep cool. We left and went to McDonald's for dinner and then shopped until we felt it was safe to go back home. Today, however, is gorgeous! Not too hot with the perfect amount of breeze to keep the air movin' in the house. I love Washington!

Mark said...

But Bud, it's a DRY heat . . . :)

Having lived in Phoenix for a time, there were many things that we liked about it, most notably the perfectly mild winters and many good friends. For a time, we considered quite seriously staying in Phoenix for at least 3 more years for residency.

Then our air conditioning broke one mid-July day. It took 5 days before we could get a repairman out, and in those 5 days, the thermometer cracked 110 degrees every day. The temperature inside the house hovered in the mid-100s and never dropped. Joy was just 1 year old, we also had only one car, and I had to be gone during the day across the valley for rotations.

Thankfully, we had good neighbors who let Elizabeth stay at their house during the day and let us sleep there at night. We also had a pool that helped keep us cool.

But after that horrific week, one thing became perfectly clear: man was not meant to live in the desert. It is quite unnatural, and frankly, incompatible with life.

Mom the Bomb said...

Ty...I have to agree with you. I was born in Phoenix, lived in Arizona until I was married, and really quite liked it! But now it is hard for me to be there in the heat. Iron Springs was HOT in June this year. But, Carson called last night to remind me to bring a sweatshirt, etc. when I am there next week because it has been chilly. Infact they have had THREE gully washers in the past week. I can't wait.
Love, Mom

Dad said...

What a bunch of wimps!! Heat is the cataylst of life. Without heat there will be no chemical reactions and therefore life as we know if comes to an end.

I likewise grew up in Tucson and got very used to having very hot summers and very mild winters. I loved it and still do. After this last winter in Denver I am quite sure that when we retire it will be to a warm weather place of some type.

Heat is so much better than cold. Cold hurts!! Heat is just uncomfortable for a bit. Give me a 110 degree day any day compared to a minus 30 degree day.

I have to admit it is hotter in Arizona today then when I lived there and what I grew up with. You certainly don't go out in it, but you also don't have to work your schedule around the weather except during a few hot hours during the day. You can plan on nice weather and that is great.

The air conditioning thing is a good point. You need it or at least a good evaporative cooler or you suffer. Water is another big issue down there and it will eventually cause development to cease.

I love Arizona and the heat, but admit it can be uncomfortable for wimps like Ty and Dana and the rest of you overly sensitive people.

Love,
dad

Matthew said...

Arizona is a nice place to visit, but I wouldn't live there. I detest Phoenix, in particular: endless sprawl, unbearable temperatures, endless baking asphalt, golf courses, wealthy retirees who complain about all the Mexicans while the same people do their yardwork. Oh yeah, and extremely overpriced, poorly built real-estate I will never, ever be able to afford.

That's not a city I want to live in, or that wants me or my family, for that matter.

Man may not be meant to live in the desert (woman, either), but paradoxically, Phoenix is one of the fastest growing cities in America because it's also parasitical. Where do you think they get all that water for lush golf courses and the backyard swimming pools everyone seems to have? Colorado, of course.

I'm not making it up. While we're on water restrictions because of long-term drought here, wealthy Arizonans are getting rich from real-estate speculation (were, anyway... ha ha!) and swimming in their pools after a long day at the Links with the good ol' boys.

Give me Colorado cold snaps any day, not the Arizona heat. You can just throw on another sweater in the cold; in the heat, your actions are much more limited and temperature sucks the life from your body like a vampire. So, it's a DRY heat... yeah well it's dry inside an oven too... nobody lives there though.

And I don't care how DRY it is, when the mercury breaks 100 is when it starts to get really uncomfortable. So you get three or four months of mild temperatures during the winter in AZ, big deal. You have to spend the rest of the year indoors cranking the AC!

A crisp, cloudless, autumn day in Colorado is infinitely more pleasurable -- hiking among the aspens, smelling the high-altitude air scents of pine and humus, or even just walking in the park and watching the leaves fall. Never will happen in Phoenix.

The weather's been surprisingly muggy in Denver the past week or so, but thankfully the worst heat of the summer is behind us and it's monsoon time now, so there is cloud cover and/or rain almost every afternoon.

If this makes me a wimp, so be it. Arizona can have its heat and keep it. I certainly don't want it.

Tankfos said...

Matt makes a good point about the oven. No one wants to live inside there.

AD

Elizabeth said...

I agree with Ty and all others but Mickey. :) Having lived there 4 years and having lived through the broken AC experience, I have no desire to return except to visit. There are some great people down there. We miss them...not the heat.

Kristen said...

I am so glad that there are others out there that feel the same way I do. Drew always jokes about how I don't do well in heat, and it is very true. My favorite place is a nice air conditioned house:)

Goose said...

When I was in Ghana, I never enjoyed the haet but I did get use to it. I would not choose to live in such a hot place but I think that all of us have just become use to what we have. The mexican guy in the black hoody probably loves the heat and enjoys it. That is how some people work. We just put an air conditioning in our house(thanks to Matt and Wendi, you guys rock) and we are living it up. I don't enjoy heat but some people love it.

Jeff said...

I like Arizona and I don't mind the heat. Heat makes you feel alive! Heat is what your body produces when it's doing what it's supposed to do, living! I've lived above the arctic circle(St. Petersburg) and in the desert sands of Phoenix, and I like the heat.
I do not, however, like the crowds and traffic in Phoenix. Why couldn't all those people just move to cooler climates with the rest of the pansies so I could enjoy the heat in peace? I had to split:(

Dad said...

I agree with Adam....living in an oven is not all that it is cracked up to be!!

However, I don't see the difference in staying in a house during a hot, hot day and cranking the AC then staying in a house when it is 30 degrees below and stoking a fire to stay warm.

You can die from heat or from cold, if it is bad enough. I would rather be uncomfortable in the heat than in a world of hurt from the cold. That's all I'm saying.

Ideal would be to be in Arizona between Nov and March and then in Colorado between April and October.

Dad

A said...

Been meaning to point you to our blog too, but now that I have a pic up from Ian's wedding I thought you might be interested: http://thepartridges.blogspot.com/

Hope all is well!

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