Summer Heat

Summer has dug in its heels, and it is not going anywhere. It refuses to wane, even for a few hours overnight. We rise in the morning heat, and rest our heads on our pillows amidst lingering heat as the air conditioning drones on. The weight of the humidity drains my energy, and I must retreat indoors.

Yet, a walk around the lake with a friend is still essential. Good conversation and scenes of nature help deflect focusing too much on how hot it is. Even an hour before sunset.

With the summer heat upon us, and not willing to let go, I hide from it inside with books, lectures online, eating lots of salad, drinking La Croix, and cleaning. To step outside is to feel the need to shower again after a few minutes. Always on the horizon is the everyday risk of storms that roll in, or develop overhead. The day begins clear and with air fat with humidity. As the sunlit day increases in heat, it rises to the sky, the clouds form and fill with pent-up humidity. The cloudbursts can be strong and sudden, but usually expel their energy quickly and dwindle down as the evening grows deeper. This is a perfect time to enjoy the cosiness of the indoors with a good book and cup of tea (yes, I still love a cup of tea in the evening, even as it is hot outside).

As the sun blazes and scorches the land and all who stand upon it, I am reminded of seasons, and how there are seasons for reasons that might be beyond us. It may seem to lack sense and not feed our souls as we enter a season, but if there weren't a "dry" season where we are tested to continue in our practice of faith, how would we truly appreciate the end of the dryness as we enter a season most loved? If it were always your favourite time of day all day, it would eventually lose some magic. Our human nature causes us to become bored all too easily, so we need a myriad of milieu to keep us motivated through each season. We always have that to look forward to.

We should be thankful for summer, because after that comes autumn. Even if it feels like a million miles away.