It’s Back

June. It’s like most four letter words for me. Thanks to global warming, it’s only a precursor to the heat that will undoubtedly blast my little portion of the world. This past weekend the heat and humidity were so thick in the air it was like being slapped the second I opened the door to go to the car. Summer, in my life, is synonymous with the word “hibernation”. When heat, humidity, and the sun make you deathly ill, it’s wise to take precautions.

When I do have to be outdoors, sunscreen and cool/cold water are two of the most important factors next to going from one air-conditioned place to another. I also keep a travel size tube of sunscreen with me in case I need to reapply. I’m pretty sure it is now expired, so I will be replacing it with a fresh one ASAP.

Heat causes me to slowly lose my mind. During a very severe, storm-related power outage last July, I got sick. The first thing that slipped was my ability to think straight. I was able to lay in my bed silently, but the second someone called my cell phone, every word was slurred. It was as if my tongue weighed 20 pounds, I sounded completely psychotic, even to myself. Unfortunately, my brain and my mouth couldn’t do anything about it because I was severely dehydrated after just an hour or so.

Luckily, someone brought me a lantern flashlight with extra batteries, a small battery operated fan, also with extra batteries (which I still use to this day during weather related outages or if it’s too cold outside to truly reduce the heat, but I still need air around my head. It has an attached adjustable stand, but I usually just prop it up against a pillow. There’s something about the cool air that helps me fall asleep.), and, because they were unable to find coconut water, which is an absolute miracle worker when I’m dehydrated or recovering from a migraine, two bottles of Gatorade. This was during a an outage where even stores were knocked out power-wise, except for Walgreens. Certain areas were hit pretty hard. I started feeling slightly more normal after half a bottle of Gatorade, but I was pretty incoherent beforehand. I know I’m dehydrated when it tastes like the best thing on earth. And yes, it does alarm me that I dehydrate so quickly. For someone who drinks an absolute ton of water, I should be able to float around the world on that alone, but I’ve learned to adapt.

It’s truly the start of June and already I am inundated with thunder, lightning, and both serious and not so serious levels of rainfall. None of that bothers me, but every once in a while, a storm can scare the crap out of you. Much like the astrological sign for most of this month, the weather certainly matches the Gemini tone, temperament, and overall attitude.

Most people spend all Winter looking forward to the sun and the warmth. Me, I’m looking forward to Fall. The second it’s crisp and stays that way for a few months, it’s my time of year. 🙂 So for those of you enjoying this, I’m counting the days down ’til it’s over.