|
Surviving the Summer Heat (In South Carolina)
Just about the only ways to survive the 100% humidity and
heat of a South Carolina summer are to camp indoors under
air conditioning as much as possible and to wear as few
pieces of clothing as legally allowed. During the months of
July through September it feels as if this
is
hell revisited with no reprieve in sight. Within thirty
minutes of attempting to "fix" yourself up into a
presentable human being these efforts prove to be futile.
The only known "cure" for summer heat and humidity is the
dead of winter cold. It is extremely hard to keep that
thought in mind now at the height of "hell season." Cold
weather is
eventually coming, just not fast enough for most people.
Then again, once winter's here, the same people who complain
about the oppressive heat will equally complain about the
cold.
I
remember endless summers when I was younger (back in the
late 60's and early 70's) where most of the neighborhood
kids would gather at someone's home who had a swimming pool
and stay there all day long. The possibility that anyone
would be kidnapped or abused didn't even exist.
Drugs and alcohol were no issue yet, either, because at
this point nobody in our crowd had heard anything about
them. Even though most of the mothers in our neighborhood
worked full-time jobs, it was understood that we were
welcome in their homes when they were away as long as we
behaved ourselves and didn't get too rowdy.
Bowls of chocolate or vanilla ice cream eaten in the
largest bowls we could find sure tasted great while we were
sitting on the front porch, watching the morning vapors rise
off of the asphalt road in front of our house. We quickly
learned to wear tennis shoes anytime we had to walk out on
the pavement or risk having severely burned feet. Everyone
kept a tan the entire time, not giving a single thought to
the now dreaded and almost commonplace melanoma. Tank tops,
shorts, and bathing suits were the outfits DE rigeur. And
nobody worried about "body image issues." Ah the good old
days of youth.
The
sweet smells of honey suckle vines, pine trees, and sunshine
always combine to give summer its unique flavor. When I was
growing up, our house was always full of home grown
tomatoes, cucumbers, corn, and squash. Our next door
neighbor grew grapes on our fence so we had those all summer
long also. There is nothing quite like the smell of summer
in the South. Too bad we can't bottle summer's essence and
sale it when the weather turns cold!
?©
2003 Lynne Stevenson
|
