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Some may call it "Summer," but I call it the "crying" season, as that's exactly how it makes me feel.
As a kid, summertime didn't bother me, in fact, I liked summers, mainly due to school being out and being able to spend weeks and weeks on my grandparent's farm and being able to do all the "kid fun stuff" that summertime allows. But as time goes on, summer has become my least-favorite season, and it gets worse each year. Over the years, I've become increasingly heat-sensitive (as opposed to merely being cold-tolerant when I was a kid), and it's gotten to the point that I break out into a full-bore sweat even on the shortest of walks whenever the temperature exceeds 80 degrees. I'm also an extremely hot sleeper, which is why I sleep so well in winter, and summer, I have the choice of dropping the AC down and running the bill up, or just not getting a good sleep all summer long...lol.
I've just returned from a short trip to Florida (visiting the in-laws), and it was in the high 80's down there, and upon my return to Atlanta, 87 degrees under a relentless sun. Yeppers, summer's arrived. So what do I have to look forward to for the next 5 months or so? Ever-increasing average highs, topping out at 90 F in July - but that's just average - something that doesn't seem to exist any more in nature. In addition to the heat, you have what I call the "blue skies of death", which is days and days and days of blue skies, that relentless sun beating down without mercy all day long - try going outside at 2:30 on a typical July afternoon down here, and you'll experience what an ant feels when he's been fried by a kid with a magnifying glass. The sun just hurts. But that's just the heat. You've got the humidity to factor in as well. Kicking in sometime in June, the waves of super-heated tropical air starts to move in over us, keeping lows well into the 70's which means there's no time at all in the day in which it feels "nice" outside, it's just as oppressive at 5 am as it is at 11 am.
Now, this wouldn't be so bad if we had summers typical of the 1980's, during which this area used to get semi-daily thunderstorms, offering real, tangible relief on those hot summer afternoons. But due to climate change, or more realistically, due to me living here (LOL), this is a rare occurrence. Drought is the name of the game these days, which begats even more heat and sun, which begats even more heat, and on and on it goes, ad infintum.
Needless to say, by the end, I'm a sniveling, depressed nervous wreck, and I resolve never, ever to live through another summer in the South ever again.
Well, guess what, I'm still here. And guess again, summer's here. And so the crying season begins... and one more for good measure -
Yes, I still have solid plans to move north, maybe not to Syracuse, as the 101 degrees I experienced there last July has kinda discouraged me from that place, but perhaps further north still, like the UP of Michigan. Or just about anywhere that has a *very long, SNOWY winter* and a *short, COOL, summer.* Heck, maybe I'll get my butt to Valdez, AK one of these days, that's just my ticket right there...lol.
But "life" keeps me planted here, just like the roots of a tree, I'm having to make do (for now) with just my imagination and dreams of one day living in a cool, cold and colder place, where I'll be able to live out the rest of my days with a contented smile on my face, knowing that I'll never have to endure yet another "crying season" ever again.
Any stray reader that happens upon this thread, and is having a summer that's not hot (cool, cold, freezing, etc), please post about it on here, so I can add it to the list of places to consider for my eventual move north. For practical reasons, this will have to remain within the borders of the United States. I do thank my lucky stars that I wasn't born in Singapore!
Your post accurately describes my experiences with summer. Bar a few differences, such as the crying and my origin not being southern Georgia, your piece strikes me as something I may have written myself. I relate very personally to what you experience. When it comes to the sights and sensations of summertime we are essentially identical in preference and reaction to the heat, sun, and humidity, and those are sensations that neither of us care to experience again. Thank you for putting this into words.
Your post accurately describes my experiences with summer. Bar a few differences, such as the crying and my origin not being southern Georgia, your piece strikes me as something I may have written myself. I relate very personally to what you experience. When it comes to the sights and sensations of summertime we are essentially identical in preference and reaction to the heat, sun, and humidity, and those are sensations that neither of us care to experience again. Thank you for putting this into words.
I appreciate the kind words from a kindred soul.
You're darned right that I never care to experience this again...maybe if I close my eyes and wish really, really hard, I'll wake up in a place that never gets hot ever.
Perhaps it's time to replay my tired old DVD of "The Day After Tomorrow" tonight...lol. If only the science wasn't so horribly bad in that movie...
NorthStarDelight, have you had your heart checked lately. Right now I am a little concerned about your health. Heat is very hard on the heart and all that sweating can be a sign of a weak heart.
We took a vacation on Edisto Island in early August one year. The heat closed in on me and I think I came very close to having a heat stroke. Temperature was around 105 and the heat index was about 115. I had to leave the beach and the pool was like dish water so that was out too.
We got in the air-conditioned car and drove to an air-conditioned meal in Savannah. That fixed it for me.
You're darned right that I never care to experience this again...maybe if I close my eyes and wish really, really hard, I'll wake up in a place that never gets hot ever.
Perhaps it's time to replay my tired old DVD of "The Day After Tomorrow" tonight...lol. If only the science wasn't so horribly bad in that movie...
Kindred is the word. The science in that movie is skewed for drama, but abrupt cooling to glacial period temperatures or close to it has been confirmed to occur in the past on timescales of 6 months. Obviously not in a week's time as in the movie nor delivered via a superstorm, but the results would be similar enough. Starting from now, being in a glacial-type climate by this coming Halloween is extreme compared to what scientists even assumed 20 years ago, yet something similar did happen in the past. As for the timing of the onset of this coming glacial, as you joked in another thread, it could occur by next Christmas or as late as 50 000 years hence - there's no way to tell for sure, but its occurrence is nigh-inevitable.
I can guarantee, though, that if you were in a stasis pod and woke up 50 000 years from now, the climate would be a lot colder than what it is now (perhaps I've been watching too much Star Trek lately ). If you should ever want to do such a thing I'd advise against placing your stasis unit anywhere north of the Ohio River, as it's liable to be buried under kilometers of ice. Besides, isn't it neat to think that such a climate regime, that would be considered practically inconceivable by so many people currently, is the normal long-term climate state of our planet?
Quote:
Originally Posted by nei
That 101°F for Syracuse is extremely rare.
Not rare enough. It does happen, but you're right on that point. However, Syracuse also averages 7 days above 90F per year, which is decidedly not rare, plus a high in the 80's (hot weather) is normal weather for them. If you want cool or mild summers, Syracuse is a poor choice.
Quote:
Originally Posted by NCN
NorthStarDelight, have you had your heart checked lately. Right now I am a little concerned about your health. Heat is very hard on the heart and all that sweating can be a sign of a weak heart.
I doubt there is a conventional medical problem here. It's a simple case of one's normal body being overheated. I'm like that all the time in the heat and no doctor to date has found anything wrong with my heart.
Not rare enough. It does happen, but you're right on that point. However, Syracuse also averages 7 days above 90F per year, which is decidedly not rare, plus a high in the 80's (hot weather) is normal weather for them. If you want cool or mild summers, Syracuse is a poor choice.
True, but there's a huge difference between 80s and high 90s. 101°F is one degree short of the all-time record.
I'll be looking forward to another summer working outdoors. It'll be fun being soaked in sweat all day while being exposed to skin damaging cancerous sun rays
Atlanta summers would be no problem for me... they're certainly no worse than Shenzhen where I spent a year and I really enjoyed the summers there.. sure I was sweaty while outdoors but I loved the sensation of sweating.. I'd even go hiking on the weekends. The problem with Atlanta are the winters... WAY too cold for my preferences.. I'd need at least Miami winters or hotter to be satisfied
To the OP. That's exactly how I felt living in McAllen, TX. In Patricius map in another thread (How many 90s you like?), I believe Brownsville was 122? So McAllen would have been more. Anyways, I moved from there to Denver and it has really made me happier. Though I wish summers were more Idaho Springs (I believe the closest town to Denver where the temp is about 10-15 degrees cooler <30-45 min drive depending where you drive from>) or Leadville (just seems to isolated from any big city). I moved up the ladder for sure. Seeing you are from GA. You definitely need to move further north or northwest. Those "90s" we get in Denver are least accopanied by upper 50s or low 60s mornings. But like I said, so far not bad. DO THE MOVE!!!! You won't regret it.
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Or just about anywhere that has a *very long, SNOWY winter* and a *short, 
COOL
It'll be fun being soaked in sweat all day while being exposed to skin damaging cancerous sun rays 
