Tuesday, July 11, 2006

Summertime...and the Living is Easy

Well, it's mostly easy. It's very nice not to worry about school schedules, homework, sports practices, etc. I wasn't feeling too well this afternoon (went to dinner with friends last night), and it's great to be able to just take it easy when I need to.

True, I don't get much accomplished with my two boys around all the time, but when I can arrange for friends to come over, they're all old enough to keep themselves occupied. Right now, there are three muddy, sweaty boys in our basement, playing a board game and sucking on popsicles. They spent two hours out in the woods behind our house, playing in the stream, climbing on rocks, and swinging on vines. Great summer stuff!

They should cool off quickly down in the basement, where the temperature is cold enough for polar bears. That's the part I hate about Delaware summers - the heat and humidity. We had an unusually mild week last week, but now we're back to 90 degrees and humid. I grew up further north (Rochester, NY) where summer temperatures usually stayed in the 80's, with nice, cool nights, and I have never adjusted to the more southern heat and humidity, despite several years in New Orleans.

It's worse now, with CFIDS. My whole body temperature seems to have risen in the past couple of years. I used to be the cold one in the house, always piling on the blankets and sneaking to the thermostat to turn the temperature higher. Not anymore. I have a closet full of warm sweaters that didn't get worn at all this winter and rarely pull more than a sheet over me at night, even with our air conditioning on. It's crazy! Even though I need it more, I still don't like to live in air conditioning. I'm a fresh air girl. So, you can see, I'm kind of stuck here. I'm out on our shaded porch for now but will soon have to escape back to the A/C.

All of that seems like silly complaining, though, considering how well this summer is going. Ken and I are incredibly grateful that both of our boys are feeling so good and are able to enjoy their summer. These classic summer days of playing outside with friends seemed like an impossible dream six months ago. So, I guess the living is easy....

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Sue - I am the exact same way about the humidity and a/c. Just going outside for a few minutes with my dogs in this heat makes me feel like I could fall over. But I hate feeling hermetically sealed in the house, blasting the a/c and running up the electricity bill. We were in New Mexico in May, and the lack of humidity was refreshing but weird. My body can't decide what temperature it likes best! - Jennie