Today is the first in a forecasted series of 32oC days. I retreated indoors and closed blinds against the sun when breezes stilled and the motionless air outside became too heavy. Now slits of light leave stripes on the family room floor. Except for the occasional flitting dragonfly, there is no movement out in the hovering afternoon heat. It’s quiet in a siesta sort of way as if everything is hunkered down to wait for evening’s respite.
Then life will return to the garden and surrounding forest. Blackbirds and Stellar jays will shriek from their hiding places while hummingbirds buzz back and forth jostling for position at the feeder. As I lug the watering can around to thirsty plants squirrels will chitter at my intrusion.
There is a sensual peace to summertime – a lazy, hazy lull, a breathless waiting… perhaps it’s for the refreshing splash of a passing rain shower. I doubt there will be one this evening, though. Indigo skies are clear.
Does summertime heat immobilize you? Does it affect your writing? How do you stay cool?
MUSINGS 
I wake early so I can water the gardens before the heat comes. This morning it was chilly despite the 32 degrees yesterday. I came back inside and worked at the computer until I spotted the sun coming through the balcony doors. It’s my signal to jump up and close all the blinds, then turn the furnace fan on and the one overhead. You’re going to hate me for saying this, but mid-day when it’s 34 outside and about 25 degrees inside, I go down to the lake and jump in. I’m know, I’m shameful.
Your heat-avoidance routine sounds a lot like my own, except that I don’t have a lake close by to jump into. I don’t tackle energy-requiring tasks either, unless I have to. It’s always a good excuse to sit very still and read or write.
I don’t like extremes in weather but find I work much better in heat that in cold. I simply cannot type when my fingers are blue from cold. These days the heat swells my fingers and they sweat on the keyboard. It’s hard to find a happy medium.
I’d pick cold over heat anytime. I can always layer on extra clothes. Whether the fingers will work isn’t nearly as important to me as whether the brain will, and mine won’t when it’s fried. 😉
Carol, the “boys” and I walk every morning. When it is hot we get up a little earlier each morning. Now we are walking about 6 a.m. The heat index is over 100 degrees, but I really don’t mind it. I feel blessed to live in Florida. The summers are hot, but the winters in other parts of the country are cold—with snow. I wouldn’t trade. I keep the shades tipped (to keep the sun out) the overhead fans are on, and I drink lots of water. When I look outside my office windows, which surround me, all I can see are flowers, Mexican petunias, Crepe myrtle, ferns and Palm trees. I feel blessed.
My DH takes our Labrador walking early in the morning, too, when the weather is hot like this. Then we all hibernate in the house until it cools off in the evening again. Florida sounds very beautiful. I like having snowcapped mountains and the ocean on my doorstep and the variety of seasons, but I know there are folks around here who dislike our rainy-or-sometimes-snowy winters and escape annually to yours.
Yeah, I’ve had a bit of the lazes but snapped out of it–just in time to catch a computer virus!
Sigh. God has a plan here, I just know it!
Patti
My condolences on the computer virus… nasty things! I’m not sure God’s involved in that unless maybe he’s trying to tell you that staying offline is safer for your computer??? You wouldn’t want to have to do that. I recommend a good anti-virus software instead. 😉
Our heat index has been running between 107 & 110F for the past week. Even the lizards & gators are sweating. Wouldn’t trade the heat for cold or snow. Blech! Rain? This time of year we get thunderstorms most afternoons. I stay cool by staying inside on days like this with the A/C cranked & the electric meter spinning like a circular saw. (*sigh*) Then I get my electric bills …….
Oh, those electric bills! But bless the air conditioners. We have one in our bedroom so at least we can count on a decent sleep. It was 34.9 C. (about 100 F.) here yesterday and *only* 34.3 C. today. The one good things is that this kind of heat is temporary around here. It’ll be back to normal by the weekend.