Friday 17 June 2005

sitting in an inflatable pool filled with frozen peas


Man, it's hot today. It's only around 25C (that's approx. 80F to my American friends), but I think I've lost my tolerance for hot weather since moving to the UK. I took Jack to Tesco today to do some grocery shopping, and I lingered in the chilled food aisles. When I say "lingered", I mean I stood for several minutes staring at different varieties of cheese when I had absolutely no intention of buying any, just to keep cool. I dove to the bottom of the ice cream freezer although I could have just plucked a carton from the top. I took the scenic route home so that we could enjoy the air conditioning in the car for a few minutes longer.

I am now a weather wimp - anything around 5C is too chilly and anything over 20C is uncomfortably warm. I have forgotten what -38C winters feel like, standing in the bitter cold, waiting for a bus that may or may not arrive. I do remember one typical summer night when it was still 40C at midnight and none of us had air conditioning. We hopped in my friend's car and drove around, in search of places with air conditioning that were open 24 hours a day. We wandered around pharmacies, supermarkets, and video stores, until we got fed up and went back to our tropical apartments. Being too hot is the worst; at least when you're cold, you can build up layers of clothing to get warmer. When you're hot and devoid of air conditioning, you cannot go beyond being naked with a fan blowing warm air on your sticky flesh.

Where the hell is the ice cream man when you need him?

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