Whoooooweeeee, that's HOT!

by Cassondra Murray

No, I'm not talking about this guy.

But he's nice eye candy, don't you think?

I've been running the air conditioning pretty much full time for two months, and I needed something to take my mind off of the impending electric bill, so I decided to post a series of hot guys to distract myself (and, possibly, YOU). For our male readers, I do apologize. This photos in this blog are a direct and blatant bribe for the women in the lair.

Yes, it's hot here. I'm in Southern Kentucky. Actual temps here have been up near 100, and heat indices of 110-115 degrees Fahrenheit. Humidity? About a gazillion percent.

I'm thinkin' the Dog Days of summer were named because the dog was too dang hot to get off the porch (or out from under the porch, dependin' on your raisin') to bark and wag at somebody comin' up the driveway.

I have never in my life decided to NOT do something because it was too hot. I've not done things because it was too cold, or because it was pouring rain so heavily that attempting to go out would be miserable. But heat? It's never stopped me.

Until now.

If you're thinking I'm not really myself, since there's no post of substance here, you would be absolutely right.

It's just too HOT!

Last night I went to an event called Wine Down Wednesday. A local restaurant does this once per month. You pay five dollars and have, basically, a bottomless glass of wine as long as the samples last. They have bottles of different whites and reds you can taste. It's always popular. But last night, for the first time, the crowd was thin. I parked at the curb, walked up to the restaurant, and bypassed the tables outside on the walk. I went inside (they had the bar-side door shut and were making everyone enter through the restaurant side--I think because they thought they could keep it cooler in there if the door stayed shut.)

And still, it was hotter'n a rat in a wool sock.

I ALWAYS sit outside at this event. I'm an outside kind of girl. Outside the music is softer, the citronella candles on the tables flicker soft ambiance across the gathering, and the atmosphere is a tad more casual...more ME.

Not last night. Last night it was "do not pass go, do not collect $200, go straight for the air conditioning."

Three friends showed up because we had promised one another to meet there, but it was a non-event. Cuz the regulars were all at home in their pools or inside in front of the fan. It was just too bloody hot.

We had a little thundershower yesterday afternoon at my house. I'd been inside in air conditioned bliss, but was leaving the house to go to the Wine Down Wednesday event. I stepped out into the air and I swear, you could cut it with a knife. This humidity belongs in South Mississippi. Not in Southern Kentucky.

What in blazes is going on?

I am not a pool kind of girl, but right about now, I'm thinking a nice dunk in the water would be perfect. Here's a picture of Viggo in the water, which does tend to make the idea of a pool more appealing.

I've abandoned red wine for white. (Yes, for those of you who dont' know me, this is a rare thing.)

The Perseid meteor showers started last night. I would normally be out there, star gazing. It's one of the glories of living in the country. I can still see stars. Tonight? I'm gazing at an iced-down bottle of Riesling and a good book.

The thing is, when I was a young woman, I worked outside on the farm in heat like this, and I was fine. But the other day I was running the string trimmer in the yard and came inside and looked in the mirror. I was all red-faced. Had a slight headache.

Yes, I know what that means medically. I had gotten too hot.

But what really worries me is that when I looked at myself, I thought, Oh. My. Gosh. You've turned into your grandmother.

That's right. I confess. Heat stroke might be bad. But what's really bad? Looking just like my grandmother when she got too hot. All ragged-out and red-faced and a little out of breath.

I hate that "looking like my grandmother" part. Grandmothers are great, but I'm not one, and don't want to look like one.

Maybe it's just a part of growing older, this lower tolerance for heat and cold. Or maybe I've gotten used to air conditioning and have turned into a wuss.

MAYBE it's just hotter now. But I'm betting not. I think it's just me.

In years past I could handle the heat with a tall glass of homemade lemonade or sweet iced tea. Or a rich, ripe watermelon. But now, the only thing I feel like doing is lying around in front of the vent and waiting for the heat to go away. God help us if the power goes out.

It's actually fairly common for the temperature to get up to 100 a couple of times in the summer here in Kentucky. But I don't remember it staying that way for so long. I don't remember the humidity being quite this bad, or disliking it quite this much.

Heck. I just don't remember 100 degrees being this HOT!

Tell me Bandits and Buddies, what are the temperatures like where you are?

If you're in the Southern Hemisphere, tell me about your summers. How hot does it get where you live? Are the summers humid?

What do you do to beat the heat?

Do you have a pool, or is there one near you? Are you a water baby?

What about drinks that beat the heat? What's your favorite summer cool-down?

When it's blazing outside, how do you stay cool and comfortable?

And if you could be anywhere in the heat of summer, where would you be? A mountain hideaway? A cabin on a northern lake? A ski slope? A spa in the city with nary a mosquito in sight? In the pool with Viggo?

What's your dream summer getaway?

Help me cool off, if only in my mind.