Boy Carlos Santana had it right, today is a scorcher. Summer is here with a vengence, sinking her hot talons into anyone’s flesh who is silly enough to stand outside for more than a couple of minutes.Which got me to thinking, what happened to my ability to withstand extreme temperatures?
I remember as a kid playing outside with sweat dripping off of me. It was so swelteringly hot that we had to keep the dogs sprayed down for fear they’d have a heat stroke. In fact, my Grandma’s dog Smokey didn’t make it due to the heat. I still feel bad about that. We couldn’t find him, because he’d crawled up under a bush after following us kids around all day. (But I digress.) The same thing went for cold temperatures. I remember riding my horses when ice had frozen most of the ground. Now I know I felt the cold, but it certainly didn’t stop my playtime.
I’m just wondering what changed. Is it because I moved to warmer climates? Is it because I’ve gotten older? I don’t have a definitive answer, but I sure do wish I still had a bit of the toughness and flexibility I had as a child.
July 12th, 2003
