I’ve been dying for a rainy day during my time off. Why? Because there are few things better than waking up to a torrential downpour and feeling that warm, slow, smug realisation of “Hey – I don’t have to go anywhere or do shit today.” Continue reading “Affirmations”
So, we’re in the meat of summer.
It’s muggy and it’s damp and it’s the time of year where two cold showers a day become a necessity. And even though we don’t have air con in our apartment, we’re pretty lucky to now live in one the middle floors, in a space shaded by trees and built with a pretty decent cross breeze – as opposed to our apartment in Balmain, which faced the sun, had NO shade, and absolutely broiled in the afternoons. Continue reading “Hot enough for ya?”
Remember last summer when every. single. post. I wrote had at least half a paragraph complaining about the summer heat? Did you miss it? You did? Fabulous. Because it’s coming back full force.
It got pretty warm this week. And not just “wow, it was pretty hot in the afternoon!” but more, warm all day, and sleeping with the fans on warm. I had a little bit of warning, at least. Last weekend, all anyone could talk about was how it’d be 40*C/100*F on Friday. It was whispered around the trade show I was working, in ominous tones like the heat was an advancing army and everyone should prepare for an invasion.
All week at work we geared up for it, counting down the days with “oh, yeah, it was warm today. Friday’s just going to be worse!” and “Just wait til Friday! 45 degrees!” and “Have you planned what you’ll wear? Make sure it’s breathable. It’s going to be a hot one on Friday.” and “Has everyone bought a water bottle? It’s going to be really hot on Friday.” mind you, I work in an air conditioned office with very little manual labor. But when I woke up Friday morning to a balmy room and my hair plastered to my cheek, I knew the invasion had begun, and the weather was going to suck.
Walking to the bathroom made me sweat. I ran a shower and wondered what was even the point – I’d just need 3 more before bed. Getting dressed made me sweat. I was sweaty and cranky and it was 21*C/70*F before 8 AM.
Once I got to work, I didn’t go back outside. We had a temperature update seemingly every 10 minutes. And the mercury just never stopped climbing. At one point, it was 43*/109*F, and that was when the a/c at work flat out stopped. At that moment, I thought of my bus route home: the first bust I catch comes from Coogee beach. It’s been awesome – reliably on time and not always crowded – until this week, when the beach crowd showed up. Wednesday and Thursday I had to wait 35-50 minutes for a bus that wasn’t loaded to the gills with teenagers in wet swim suits making all the bus seats damp. That’s a long time to wait in the boiling sun. So faced with possibility of literally roasting in the crazy heat for an hour, I decided to catch a cab home. I sat with the back seat a/c vents pointed right at me, and I was home in 30 mins, not 90. Best $30 I’ve ever spent.
As I walked up the stairs in my building and toward our apartment door, I could feel the temperature rising. It was like our place was generating a heat shield and I had to pass through it to gain entrance. I walked through the thick wall of humidity and into our hot, hot, air conditioning-less apartment and saw Joel sweating and sitting in front of a fan that was just blowing hot air back at him I knew… this summer’s going to be so hot. Especially after being so spoiled by autumn and winter and this blessedly extra long, unseasonably cool spring.
I had little hope that the temps would actually drop over night like the weather channel predicted, but we woke up to grey skies and low temps, and for that I am forever thankful. One day was enough. But shit. Friday was a grim reminder that the death of summer is almost here. Soon it’ll be mid December and 108*F will be the norm. Summer is stretching its legs and crawling slowly back into my life, to take residence and make me a sweaty monster until April.
Oh boy.
Time for frozen wash cloths and cool showers and terrible summer allergies and hanging out in the tub filled with cold water and standing wet in front of the fan to feel the chill. Time for scheduling activities for when you’re least likely to suffer heat stroke. Time to once again feel waht it’s like to stand in a puddle of my own sweat. Time to put away EVERY item of winter clothing and EVERY blanket because looking at them will make you sweat. Time to shave my legs everyday, because pants will no longer be an option.
But, in the essence of positivity, it’s also the time for hanging out at the beach, two weeks off for Christmas, eating dinner outside, picnics, coffee in the park, and daylight until almost 9 PM and being able to do 4 loads of laundry in a day because everything dries in like, an hour.
I mean, regardless of the nice things summer brings, chances are still pretty high that I’ll burst into flames or wilt away in a dehydrated mess.
But… we live in hope.
Since Sunday night, the weather has been ridiculous. First, it was colder than it has been. Then, gale force winds, non-stop driving rain*, floods, and we woke up this morning to great thunder claps, crazy lightning, and hail. It even SNOWED in a few places. The traffic has been extra shitty, the streets are filled with tree debris, and the bins are filled with inside out umbrellas. It’s looking a bit demilitarized around here.
Last night, I met with Joel’s mom quickly to get some paperwork for my visa (hooray! everything is done!), and she gave me some chicken soup and bakery fresh bread. We layered up in sweats and blankets and ate, and I don’t know when we’ve ever been happier. If there’s something better than a hot shower when you’re wet and cold and tired, it’s a hot bowl of delicious mom-made-soup and fresh bread after said hot shower.
I sat in bed listening to the storm this morning, and asked Joel if it would be crazy for me to call out of work because I was afraid of being struck by something from the sky–electric or icy or whatever. With the Idiot Girl week I’ve been having, I was concerned that the steel toes in Docs would be conductors. But they’re the only shoes I can wear that won’t leave my feet soaked. They also make me over 6 feet tall and apparently climbing stairs in them makes my calves so sore I can barely walk. /champion. And when Joel said I shouldn’t take my umbrella because that would be the conductor, I nearly cried.
But, being the peach he is, Joel fed me coffee, wrapped me in an extra rain coat, and shoo’d me out the door. And once I got on the street, the weather lightened up. I even saw blue skies briefly when I got to work.
The rain came back just in time for me to be sent home with a migraine (joy), and around 3 today, the rain pretty much stopped, it’s started again, but thankfully without the wind and storms. From what I’ve heard, this kind of weather is an Australian winter thing, and it doesn’t usually happen this hard core–unlike summer in the North, where cyclones seem to happen every two weeks.
I’m thankful for an apartment whose windows don’t leak, and for a space heater that warms our room in about 10 minutes. Also, is there anything like that firey smell of the first heating session of the year? Ha, I’m just really excited about all things cold weather right now. Did I tell you I wore socks *and* slipper boots *and* a long sleeved shirt with a jumper over it *and* sweat pants *and* sat under a blanket next to Joel and it was amazing? I don’t like how the cold weather doesn’t dry our towels all the way, but I’m really elated to not be leaving sweat trails everywhere.
We are supposed to have sunny skies tomorrow, so fingers crossed. I love rain, but even I’m over it at this point.
(See: socks not drying out all the way in cold air)
*or as my coworkers said, “it’s absolutely pissing rain.” I heart Australia.
Audpodge and Blither Blather 
