50+ Lifestyles

PUBLISHER’S CORNER

By Eloise Graham

Summer Heat and August

As I began writing this article it was mid July, and a hot humid day. The weather people were calling it a First Alert Day, Red Heat Day, Excessive Heat Wave, and so forth. The temperatures were to be in the high 90 degree range with “it feels like triple digits.” I was wondering if this was a lot of hype. I was raised in Kansas where it often reached 100 degrees. Usually only a degree or two above that mark, but I do remember one summer it was 108 for a couple of days in a row. No air conditioning. To cool off, we went swimming or played in the hose. I don’t remember any heat advisories being issued. I do remember my mother telling me if I wanted to cool off in a hurry, I should put my hands in cool or cold water with fingers spread apart so that more skin area would be exposed to the coolness.

These same weather people were telling us to stay inside in the air conditioning. Not to go out in the “unbearable, unrelenting heat.” But not everybody has air conditioning. What did we do before air conditioners? I know what I did. I spent many hours at the community swimming pool. Or played in the sprinkler, had water balloon fights and spent a lot of time in front of a fan. What did you do? When did you finally get air conditioning?

I remember my family got their first window air conditioning unit when I was 13. I was probably 16 or so when we got central air. After I got married, our first three homes didn’t have air conditioning, and some how, we survived. We knew how to open windows at night, use fans to circulate the air and then close the house up during the day.

That was yesteryear. Now we are told to stay inside and hydrate with plenty of water. Those news people seem to smile with glee when they can tell us the heat wave is here or coming and we must prepare for it.

I did hear a story about the heat and outdoor workers that made a lot of sense. The people that handle the luggage at the airports do have an extremely hot job. The pavement under the planes is often at 125 degrees. All of that paved area absorbs and releases heat making the job unbearable. Construction workers and roofers have jobs that are a lot hotter than the air temperature. I know. My husband, while we were in college, worked road construction. He would go into work at 4:30 a.m. and be done at 1:00 or 1:30 p.m. Areas with lots of blacktop, cement patios or reconstructed/composite wood decks can retain a lot of heat that will keep the area warm way past sundown.

We have always had temperatures and weather to contend with without all of the hype about First Alert Days or Red Heat Days.

I wondered if July or August was hotter. According to https://weatherspark.com July is about 3 to 4 degrees warmer (hotter) than August. This seems to be the average for Iowa, Illinois or the Quad Cities. Average daily high temperature for July is 85 degrees with a daily high of 81 in August. Daily highs seldom go above 94 degrees. So I guess we were having a heat wave. The evening or overnight temps decrease about 5 degrees ranging from 61 degrees to 65 degrees.

Just remember, cooler days are coming.