It is officially Hot. The sun has been out all day, and this means that all the world's Hot has been stored up for the whole day and is now being stored in our bedroom making it an unbearable oven almost impossible to sleep in without leaving a noisy fan on all night.
This means that Summer is Here, or something along those lines, anyway.
I have a weird relationship with summer. I've written about this subject in the past, but after 858 previous daily entries, frankly it's sometimes difficult to come up with completely original topics, so I'm going to write about it again. (The last time was in 2010, anyway, so I think I've earned the right to do it again.) I digress. Let me start again.
I have a weird relationship with summer. I like the fact that it's warm and it looks nice outside and you can wear shorts and not put a coat on and whatnot, but I dislike the fact it makes my arse sweaty (apparently my arse contains my body's thermostat, meaning that if I get slightly too hot it's the first place to start sweating) and it can be uncomfortable to sit outside in for too long, particularly if you're prone to burning like I am.
I like the fact that it's socially acceptable to get out a hosepipe (assuming they haven't been banned in your region due to "drought" conditions — and let's not get started on the misuse of that term) and spray it all over yourself on the "mist" setting. Well, okay, maybe not socially acceptable, but certainly understandable.
I like the fact that paddling pools become a viable option in the summer, even for grown adults who should really know better.
I like that you can do normally indoor-type stuff outside (though techie geeks really need to invent a phone/tablet/laptop screen that is actually at all visible in the sunlight and has a faster response time than e-ink displays) and that it's pretty much obligatory to have some sort of iced drink to hand at all times.
I dislike the fact that if you get burned, then everything hurts for days afterwards. Particularly worthy of ire is getting burned on the top of your head, which is enormously uncomfortable and itchy — doubly frustrating for one such as myself who suffers from a perpetually-itchy head.
I dislike the fact that scrawny chavs feel the need to take their shirts off and display their hairless, prepubescent-looking chests to the world while walking around town.
I dislike that you can very easily inadvertently blind yourself with nothing but a phone screen and an unfortunate reflection.
I like that you can get in your car, open all the windows and drive to your destination with fresh air blowing in freely, regardless of what it does to your hair. (My hair inevitably looks stupid, so being windswept has very little effect on my usual appearance.)
I like that it's a good time of year to play Dead or Alive Xtreme 2, not only one of the most perverted non-hentai (well, there's no bonking in it, anyway) games in the world, but also one of the most summery things in existence.
I like the feeling of summer humidity exploding into a heavy rainstorm, and standing out in that warm rain getting drenched.
See? Mixed feelings. I don't do "being Hot" very well, and if I had the choice I'd rather be too cold than too hot. But there's plenty to like about the summer. It's a cheerful time of year, particularly in a country such as this which spends an awful lot of time overcast, raining or both.
As such, I've bought a bike and will be picking it up tomorrow with a view to actually Going Outside when I get the chance. This, then, is doubtless a cue for the sun to disappear for the rest of the year and a torrential deluge of Biblical proportions to begin. Oh well. Good intentions and all that.
What are your favourite and most-despised things about the summer?
(Cue silence. In the past, ending a post with a question has generally been a prompt for there to be no comments whatsoever. But I'm not giving up now, dammit.)
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Really? DOAXBV 2? I'm fine with the first one, that was a proper game, but 2 was just a porn game.
While summer brings with it beautiful weather and sunny weekends to spend at the beach, it also brings extreme heat conditions for us shipbuilders. It gets up in the 120+ degree range daily, which, I'm sure you already probably guessed, can be fatal if you aren't well prepared. Somehow, I still love it. I'm pretty sure it's called being crazy. Yep, I'm pretty sure that is appropriate term for it. 😀
Roughneck by day, writer by night. Hey, it's a rough life, but somebody has to do it first. (Knows I'm not the first, but it sure does sound good!)
Hi mate, I just wanted to say – after I finished laughing – that of course you can't stand the heat, and get burned etc – your a Pom – that's what they do. rofl Nah I know that if I were over there, every Winter I would be freezing my butt off!! It's not that it doesn't get cold here – it's Winter for us at the mo – we get winds straight from the Antarctic!! I know they have to cross a huge expanse of ocean on their way here, but it just seems to encourage them! Mind you the days are mild as – it's like Spring – the birds and trees and shrubs don't know if they are hibernating or mating! Clear skies: freezing nights!
Mind you I'm not too keen on the heat either. I lived in the Pilbara area of WA for about 15 years, after a stint in the middle of the desert at the Woomera Rocket Range, and that was enough for me. Pilbara Summer = 45*Celsius for weeks at a time! I started out fine – I was young, we were literally pioneering, I had my kids up there, rode horses, fell off horses lol, worked, had barbies (BBQs) but as the years rolled on, each hot season the air con went on earlier and went off later! In the end when an offer to move to Perth arose I grabbed it – said to my Pete 'the kids and I are going, you can come if you like!' Best thing we ever did.
Now the minute the temp goes over the midway mark of the twenties Celsius I'm thinking 'air con air con I must turn on the air con!' What a wuss I've become!
I too am ambivalent about Summer. I think I am an Autumn and Spring person. Actually I am a Hawaiian person – the temp is around mid-teens most of the time! It just rains more some of the time! 😀 I am just waiting to win Lotto! S i g h . . .
I like sitting in a deck chair with a cold drink and something to read. I also like afternoon naps in the shade.
Favorite bit about summer? The long days, oddly enough. I like the fact that it's still nice and bright out well into the evening. Makes evening excursions much more enjoyable, especially since the "golden hour" often seems to last two or three of them.
Most-despised thing is that excursions during the day usually require sunscreen. Canadians aren't known for their deep tans for good reason. The yellow face, it burnses us.