For two weeks the kids and I have been de-acclimated to the heat. When we visited Houston, we immediately became A/C-dependent because the heat and humidity there is brutal, especially hard on active little kids, add plenty of mosquitoes along with it and you have a nasty cocktail for a grumpy mood.
Austin is not the hottest place in the world, although local news will run stories to sensationalize the heat, and describe the city as unusually hot, compared to elsewhere in Texas. Really, this is nonsense. Austin has cold springs and trees, even caves, so finding respite during the day isn’t difficult. The key is to stay out of the sun, which I should be doing anyway, but it isn’t necessary to stay indoors. In fact, I have begun boycotting my A/C dependence because I find it depressing. It makes me feel perishable, like some sort of walking dairy product.
This morning we “kept it real” in order to re-acclimate and drove (windows down!) to Bull Creek for a hike. The water was low, the cicadas droned away and kids were diving from the cliffs, making it a party. Sure, it was hot, but Chas sung in the backpack and Ford, well, forded the creek over and back again until lunch, stopping to examine pollywogs and fry here and there.
It’s easy to become victimized by the heat when air conditioning is so accessible here. When I listen to the sound of a window unit or a blowing A/C unit, I’m reminded of my first summer job. I was babysitting, and there I was, wedged between the television and an A/C unit, idling the midday hours while my charge slept. It was the first memory I have of being utterly depressed. It was such a brain-suck, I felt like lard.