Why yes it’s true: if you can’t stand the heat, go back into the A/C

I kinda forget how much we Americans love air conditioning until I stepped outdoors today and realized that I spend most of my time living in an artificial chill box. Don’t get me wrong, I hate the heat and appreciate climate controlled spaces- but I also have a healthy respect for whatever Mother Nature decrees to be her preferred thermostat setting. At least in measured doses.

There’s something to be said for stepping out of these hermetically sealed confines and torturing ourselves with the elements for a little bit. I was thinking about this today as I moved from one building to another that was separated by about 200 yards. “Ça tape!”  was the phrase that sprung to mind as a wall of heat brought my awareness to the present. The Senegalese would inveigh against the sun as if they were taking the whole chaleur thing personally. I don’t blame them. It’s merciless, these conditions that we must endure in the name of getting to where we need to be.

No one likes to be uncomfortable, and for that reason I understand why people pick up and move to places where they can live in relative predictability. Eighty Degrees and Sunny. Ever single day.  If that’s your game, then you have already found where you’re supposed to be. Me, I never could stand Eighty Degrees and Sunny because I personally thrive and suffer best in places of relative extremes. Much like how I felt while outdoors today, this is the only time where I really capture the experience of being alive. After all, don’t we need the sun and rain to grow?

But don’t get me wrong. At the same time I will still assure you that my threshold for lingering out in those particular conditions is pretty darn low right now. Extreme weather is hard, and I beg my modern car to provide an output of A/C that is cooler than factory standards- all in the name of making me forget for a little while about the external temperatures raging outside right now. It’s a crazy world that we weave for ourselves.

And now to head back outdoors. We’ll see if I change my tune next month- because it’s only going to get hotter.