Saturday, July 29, 2006

Hell, I'm Living in Hell

No, this isn't what it looks like, just what it feels like.

See what happens when you tell everyone how nice the weather is in your neighborhood? The fog is gone. The rain is gone. The clouds are gone. Blue sky, which felt wonderful yesterday and this morning. Indeed, I was sitting outside on a bench in the pocket park across the street by 7:30 this morning, working on freckle maintenance and waiting for Christina to come by at 8 and pick me up for breakfast. And then I sat on another bench outside the grocery store and waited for the Care-A-Van to pick me up and bring me home. For a while, I took a lawn chair out my upstairs door and onto the roof of my living room and sat, drinking peppermint tea and reading the latest issue of The New Yorker. Watched cruise ships and a humming bird and eagles kettling in the sky and traded raucous noises with a few ravens.

Eventually, however, one does have to go inside. And now it is 9:03 p.m., the sun is still way up in the sky, and it is 73 outdoors, which means I have no idea how hot it is inside, but hotter than 73. My upper tolerance is about 70. I live in an apartment with a bedroom on the third floor of the building. Heat, you will recall, rises! Two sides of this building are against the mountain and the third wall of my apartment is an interior, shared one. Windows only on one side downstairs, and only one on the other upstairs. Can't leave the doors open -- bears like to use my exterior stairs to get to the street below (and then they cross it and go down to a park with a creek at the bottom of the mountain) and often amble across my roof. No cross breeze. No air conditioning because this is Alaska, and we seldom get weather this hot. Today is seldom.

I think I'm getting prickly heat on a part of my body I can't reach well, and I'll tell you a secret. I heard today that a friend of mine got her boobs bobbed ten years ago, and I'm so jealous! How would that be? I can't remember a time when I didn't have an ache between my shoulder blades. And, I seem to remember really wanting to get these things! If I had known then what I know now, I would have refused them when they came knocking on the door. Said no to the knockers, as it were. 'Cause they are difficult to lug around in the best of times, but when I'm hot I'd just like to be a little girl with a flat chest again.

6 comments:

kenju said...

Hi, MG, I came back to thank you for the visit - and I'm so glad. I am sorry for your heat issues, but the way you write about them is sooo funny!

I never had any and always wanted boobs, until my best friend who wore a 38C got pregnant and her breasts became like watermelons that had split in the sun. That made me glad I had virtually none!
Anyway, thanks for the visit. You are the only other person I have heard of who eats onion with peanut butter!!

Susan B said...

Oh, I'm with you on the boob thing. I've often fantasized about getting mine reduced, but they're not big enough to cause me back problems so I couldn't justify the expense. It would be purely for comfort and vanity.

So sorry you're uncomfortable! Could you have someone install a ceiling fan in your bedroom?

Zan said...

I'm crazy jealous of your 73 degrees. We get down to that during the night, if we're lucky. It's 10:30 my time and we're at 84. Our projected high is 94 today and it's only that low because we've got some clouds and rain. And next month is going to be hotter.

During the summer, I run around in tanktops and shorts, letting the world see my very fleshy arms and thighs, because I'd die otherwise. It makes my mother uncomfortable, my wearing so little clothing,because she's very body conscious. She's smaller than I am and she won't go anywhere without real sleeves. Although, she's getting better at wearing shorts. They go down to her knees, but...On top of that? She gets hot flashes. She had a hysterectomy years ago and since she's now the age to be going through menapause naturally, they took her off her hormone replacements. So, she's insanely hot and sweating all the time, but she won't dress appropriately because people may gawk at her flabby arms and legs. *sigh*

J said...

Sorry it's so hot, mom. You need a fan...it at least HELPS, though it doesn't solve things completely.

Chancy said...

"and we seldom get weather this hot. Today is seldom."

What a great sentence.....:)

Anonymous said...

"Said no to the knockers" I love it! Yes, they are a problem- even tho. now I only have one- it is too big! What a shame I can't divide it and make two smaller ones! Anyway, when I have reconstruction next year-I will have the right one reduced at the same time. I am SO looking forward to it. Can't remember when I didn't have back pain either...and neck pain and skin problems....OK that's probably more than you wanted to know about me! Claire.