Humidity

Stinks.

I feel like a little kid standing on the dock, looking out over the water of a lake. I know that it will be fun to swim around in the water, but I also know that the water is going to be cold. I don't really know what to think of this conundrum. I know that the discomfort of the coldness is potentially temporary, that eventually my body will acclimate to the water temperature. But, it could also be too cold to swim in, and eventually I would have to get out.

The past week-ish has been an interesting seasonal transition for someone who grew up with a 'Spokane' spring. The last few days have been beautiful and sunny in the morning, raising the temperature to a balmy 83 degrees but the mid afternoon. Along with this, you can reach out and grab the water out of the air it is so humid. But 4ish 5ish the clouds get really dark, and the rest of the evening is a mixture of heavy rain and amazing lightning and roaring (lol I almost said thunderous as an adjective, but that would be silly) thunder. This wet evening is accompanied with continuing humidity.

This brings me to a number of interesting musings.

1) Air Conditioning back home is child's play. I remember in Spokane, you turned on the AC when things got too hot. Here AC prevents you from feeling like a sticky mess 24/7. The stair way to my room is its own enclosure, at the top of the flight, there are two doors, one leading to my room and another leading to a storage room. The bottom of the stairs also has a door. This stair hallway is by far the hottest and nastiest climate in the house. I am not complaining in this regard, as I never spend any amount of time in the stair way, but it does make the feeling of walking in to my aptly climate controlled room very refreshing.

2) As I have mentioned to some people, on of the things I really enjoy about Spokane summers is the dusk and evening. I love the cool refreshment of the night. This is why I love porches, star gazing and wet grass. Last night I was outside at midnight, and it felt like it was the middle of the day, only darker. The temperature was still around the high 70s, and I felt sticky. Gross.

3) There are some benefits to this climate. For instance, I was walking around the church last night, when I realized that not only was I walking in to a wall of moisture, but the wall was holding a glorious mixture of fragrances from the trees and flowers around. This was not a fleeting scent, it was intense and in-your-face, and not brief either, it lasted a good block as I made my way to my car. It was great. For a moment, I ignored the fact that there was moisture forming on my forearm, and it was not my sweat glands working, and I just took it in. Mother, you most likely would have had an asthma attack.

4) For those of you who have been here, and remember the picture at the top of the incline that was taken at 4 in the afternoon... and it looks like it is pitch black, this does not surprise me now. I was driving to Gwyn's house on Thursday around 6:30 at night. On a normal day, it would be sunny for another hour or so before dusk set in. On Thursday, there was a nasty storm coming in, and the sky was as close to black as I have seen in a while. Along with this, the humidity in the air was causing a misty haze over everything. Given only a slight amount of pollution, I am sure it would have looked like midnight. It was crazy. At this point I also realized another thing. I felt like I was in a jungle. All of the foliage that had been brown and dead looking a month ago was lush and overgrown. For whatever reason I did not notice the transformation until just then. And it was awesome! The drive was like a totally different trip than what I was used to. Then I got out of my car, forgetting about the suspended pool I was about to step in to, and remembered why I don't like humidity.