Year's first scorcher on its way

The heat is moving in.

While summers are usually mild and dry around here, each year we are usually good for a couple scorchers. Hot, humid weather is uncommon around here, so when it comes, it comes hard and people know it.

Tomorrow, it's supposed to come hard. Highs are forecast in the low 90s, with lows in the low to mid 60s. True, not very impressive compared to most of the country. But for us, it's out of character.

My guess is that most of the homes around here don't have air conditioning. Why get something that you're only going to use once or twice a year? A few years ago, after a really scorching summer, we had a room air conditioner put in the bedroom. We used it once or twice that year. Last summer was a lot cooler than normal, and I don't think we used it at all. But now we've put it on notice--your services may be required soon, so be ready.

We decided on the room AC unit because we have a two-story home, and the heat rises to the upper floor in summer and just stays there. When it's hot, there's usually no breeze, so the hot air just sits around and calls in all its friends. It's not unusual to see the upstairs temperature reach the upper 80s. Now imagine trying to sleep in that! The room with my main computer is also upstairs. Oh, it gets hot, all right.

When it's really hot, we use some big fans upstairs and sometimes stay downstairs very late. I know back before AC, people/families used to sleep outside when their homes were so hot. Haven't done that yet, but it's an idea.

So what do we do? We lie very low and wait for it to end. While waiting, we sometimes go for rides with the car windows open. Other times, we head for one of the area lakes, where I usually "play" with the straps of my wife's swimsuit, encouraging the front part of it to drift further and further down in the water. She has been known to sort of bounce a little in the water to help it along. (Just having a little fun while letting her know that I still enjoy looking at her. She's 10 months younger than I am, FYI.)

We have a number of parks with lakes around here. You'd be surprised how cool the lake waters remain, even in a summer heat wave. Spend an hour or so of your evening in the lake, and you'll find your body temperature cooling off quite nicely. Until it's time to get out, go home and go back upstairs to that hot bedroom.

The cats don't care for the heat, either, and they can't take off their fur coats. So they just lie very still and, as incredible as it sounds, sleep even more than normal. They make up for it when the air finally cools off and the heat wave breaks. Then they're running around the house like crazy.

Usually the heat breaks with a bang and a boom--heavy rain, lightning, sometimes a little hail and strong winds. There have been tornadoes reported in this area, but strong gust fronts in front of thunderstorms are much more common and have left behind plenty of downed trees.

So we'll have to see what's in store this time. Maybe we'll go to the lake. Maybe the new root beer stand that just opened in town. Maybe a ride up and down the highway.

Whatever we decide, we'll do our best to keep our cool.