A Dry Heat, Indeed
We’re not quite at the midway point of summer — that’s still a few more days away — but Whining Time has definitely arrived here in our Valley.
Whining Time is that point of summer — generally about this time — when a tremendous heatwave envelops us.
When that happens — as it is happening now — many folks around here begin moaning and groaning and complaining, as if (1) it’s never gotten this hot before, (2) we have no idea how to survive this heat and (3) we are, therefore, doomed.
Well, maybe not that last one. But you get the idea.
Now, don’t get me wrong. It’s definitely hot. Starting today, we’re looking at daytime highs ranging from 107 to, next Saturday, perhaps even 110. Intolerable.
Nighttimes will be better — with lows ranging from (most of this week) the low 70’s to next Saturday’s 81. (Thank you, Kevin at Channel 30.)
Everyone who has grown up around these parts has heard, and likely used, the expression “it’s a dry heat” to explain to newcomers or outsiders how our heat differs from heat elsewhere — like in the Midwest.
Sharon and I spent numerous summers in Iowa (for reasons too complex to go into here. You’re welcome). And, brothers and sisters, it was quite an experience.
We had come straight from Fresno to Ames, Iowa. And that first summer, it was a revelation (and not the good kind) when we encountered high temps in the 80’s and 90’s, which went along with humidity readings in the 80’s and 90’s.
When we’d get out of the shower in the morning, we could never dry off. We just kept sweating.
Going outside during the daytime was not just a challenge — it was almost unbearable.
In spite of that, we loved Iowa and kept coming back. In fact, we’re going back again a few months. Of course, by then, gorgeous autumn weather will have kicked in, so we’ll likely be able to dry off after showering.
Back here in the Valley, another tactic we sometimes use when our temps skyrocket is to compare ourselves to Phoenix or Vegas. Those desert cities are often, indeed, in a class of their own.
This week, for example, Phoenix will be a few degrees above us during the day. No big deal.
But nighttime — oh, my. It won’t get below 89 any evening this coming week in Phoenix — and it will only get down to the low 90’s a couple evenings.
As for Vegas — whoo, boy. Highs this coming week ranging from 109 to 113, with lows only getting down to the high 80’s.
Now, that’s heat.
And I bet they use that phrase: “But it’s a dry heat.”
None of the above is meant to downplay our heat issues this coming week. Not in the least.
When it starts scorching here, many people are affected, big-time. And not in a good way.
Construction workers. Agricultural workers. Landscape gardeners. Roofers. Road repairmen and women.
And, yes, the homeless.
All spend much of their day outside, and outside is nasty right now.
Some of these workers get to “start early” in the morning so they can be finished by mid-day, when things get hottest.
It’s not fun, and it’s not easy, to work outside in this hot mess of a Valley in mid-summer. TV stations send reporters out and about on these scorching days to chronicle the difficulties so many folks face.
Some lucky folks escape the Valley heat by, simply, getting out. It just takes time and money.
One of our down-the-street neighbor couples was in the process of doing just that when I walked by their place this morning. They were packing their car for a trip to the coast.
And not just any trip. They told me they were planning to stay three weeks — three weeks — at their Morro Bay home.
And why not? The high temperatures there this coming week will be in the mid-60’s. The lows at night will be in the mid-’50’s.
And all it takes to get there for three weeks is to have enough moola to have bought a place there.
Must be nice. In fact, I’m sure it’s nice.
Most of us don’t have that kind of money, of course. But some folks — they’re still quite lucky — have enough to drive to the coast or to the mountains and rent a place for a day or two or three.
That costs plenty of cash, but I’m sure they feel it’s worth it.
And then there are some really well-off folks who hop a plane and fly to somewhere cooler.
Copenhagen, anyone? That lovely city is heading for highs in the 70’s most of this week.
Sure, it would take about 12 hours of flight time to get there. But still….
For the rest of us — at least, the retired rest of us — we’ll stay inside this week with the air conditioner and TV on.
Retired people like Sharon and me generally don’t have to venture outside much, anyway, beyond driving to Costo (where it’s really chilly inside, summer or winter) or perhaps meeting friends for lunch.
The disadvantage for us, of course, is that the way we “earned” being able to stay inside is by getting old. Enough said.
Old or not, that’s where we are — in mid-summer, the Whining Time here in the Valley.
Here’s hoping we all can make it through this next week.
After all, it’s a just a dry heat.