Thursday, July 22, 2010

It's hot


Living in Los Angeles for more than a dozen years has effectively made me a weather wimp. I grew up in Georgia and lived most of my life on the east coast -- I slept in an un-air-conditioned dorm in college in North Carolina and lived many years in an un-air-conditioned apartment in New York City. But when I come back east for vacation, I'm always amazed at how intolerant of the heat and humidity I've become. How can people live like this, is what I think when I step outside.

Evidently, there are hotter places. This very old church sits right up the road from my parents' house in suburban Atlanta.



Right across the street is an old cemetery, most of the headstones buried in weeds. I stepped lightly, afraid of snakes.




After twenty minutes or so, I'd had enough and was drenched in sweat in my city girl clothes. My parents' house is an oasis.




16 comments:

  1. It always strikes me at times like this how it must have been years ago. Aside from not knowing any thing different , or being conditioned, seriously.
    Imagine working crops, fighting battles, the whole bug thing....

    I like my spoiled life.
    And I hate saying it, but still.

    great photos, Elizabeth.

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  2. Our electricity went out tonight and we were just about resigned to going to bed without fans or AC and then...like a sweet miracle, it all came back on.
    Try not to melt, honey.

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  3. We're all conditioned to comfort. And it's funny how we get used to where we are. The first year we were here, I got used to gardening in 100+F. Now that the need isn't so great, I can't imagine digging and hoeing in that desiccating heat.

    Hope you're having a good respite.

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  4. I'm gasping with the cold of Melbourne at the moment, Elizabeth, so it's hard to adjust my mind to thoughts of heat.

    The temperature is such a constant in our lives and at its extremes it feels unbearable whether too hot or too cold.

    I hope your parent's oasis makes it all bearable.

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  5. What a wonderful blog :)

    I found my way here through my travels and wanted to say I really enjoyed your posts ♥

    From Stacie in Australia
    'Happiness'

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  6. I know what you mean about the heat. Come see we are doing a giveaway!

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  7. i look at that flower...and i want so much for you.
    i want the time with your family to fill your heart. i hope there will be care and hands and time enough for you to walk lighter...rest, revitalize. that all these familiar voices will carry you back to the carefree days of childhood. that when you sleep, your dreams will set you free.

    enjoy....may this be a real time of renewal and fill you up!

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  8. Ah, yes, the glories of humidity. I lived one summer in Florida without air conditioned house or car. When I look back, I don't know how I did it! I DO remember carrying a small clean hand towel with me in the car every day, patting my face with it every few minutes like an 18th century lady, just so my makeup wouldn't melt off before I got to work.

    Now I am one of the air conditioned multitudes...

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  9. Love the pictures. Love that your parents' house is an oasis. Yea. Bask in it!

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  10. I hear you. My husband is from the South and whenever we visit I feel like I could DIE from the heat. I grew up in Northern California, so that kind of heat is like a foreign planet to me.

    gorgeous photos

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  11. I LOVE old cemeteries. Great photos! Hope things are going well.

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  12. So glad the airplane trip was uneventful! Have fun at Hilton Head. It should be better once you are out by the water and the warm weather makes it swimmable.
    x0 N2

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  13. giiiiiirl, we are melting here in jersey too! the heat index will be 105 tomorrow... i feel your pain:)

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  14. giiiiiirl, we are melting here in jersey too! the heat index will be 105 tomorrow... i feel your pain:)

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  15. well, i totally understand you.
    imagine you live 30 years in a city that the lowest temperature is 21 Celsius degree!!

    happy week

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  16. I took an early morning walk here (Pensacola, FL) and it was already sweltering. My skin must be getting thinner or something! We are seriously thinking about moving back to the NC mountains as soon as we can. Summers there, at 4200 foot elevation, were a total joy. We ate all our meals outside on the deck.

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