A "Sticky" Topic

[92_SPL 10]

Hi,

I live in Yuma, AZ where in August you can expect it to get up to at least 120 degrees out. I think that pretty much speaks for itself.

[LauraT7 13]

but it's a 'dry' heat - right?

 

I dunno - hot is hot - I don't think the heat bothers me as much as the humidity -

 

With our families allergies and my weight - it seems when it gets really hot and humid i just can't BREATHE - it really gets to me.

 

Last summer at camp we started the week with high 90's to 100+ temps and high humidity. Many of the boys were sick - headachy and diarrea in the beginning of the week. midweek we had a storm and it backed off to 95 - but the humidity and the skeeters were horrible. It was too hot & sticky to sleep - the minute you left the lake or the shower I was drenched in sweat. We had alot of rashes from kids walking around in wet clothes - trying to cool off by waterfights and dousing themselves at the pumps.

 

this year, to prepare, i kept our AC off as much as possible - as last year I had been working every day in a refrigerated office prior to camp (have to keep it cool for those lawyers to wear their suits)I do think the AC acclimatizes your body to not be used to the extreme differences. I also tried to work outside in the heat everyday some -

 

But this year at camp it rained. EVERY DAY. Actually, we only got dumped on the first day or so - after that it was occasional drizzles, mists, or cloudbursts, just once a day. kept it cool - nights got down to high 60's and low 70's - great sleeping weather - kept the skeeters down too. I thought it was great - the boys were very depressed by the rain, though. i was really surprised by how much they let a litle water affect their fun.

 

They only got really wet once - and i took everyones uniforms into town and dried them in a laundromat. nobody's tent leaked, no one had wet clothes or sleeping bags - except by leaving their own stuff out or not taking rain gear with them when they left camp.

 

some of my best memories of scout and family camping trips are facing the challenges of weather, rain, missing equipment or other unpredictables. I'm thinking the ease of our push button, climate controlled life is really spoiling everyone for the realities of life?

[ozemu 10]

I think that the heat and cold are part of the natural rythm. They tell you to go fast and slow, to go out and stay in. The A/C messes with that. Personally I hate the cold though because I have back injuries that tell me exactly what season it is. Still it is part of what really is normal. A bit of humility born from our helplessness in the face of nature is, in my mind, a good thing.