It is 8:34 at night as I sit down to type, and it is hot as.* I put on makeup this morning before taking the kids to school. It must be on my chest by now. The sweat is a flat sheet that comes down from out of my hair, crossing the arch of my forehead, sliding around my eyes, and accumulating around my nostrils until I take my hands and swipe them from my nose outward, trying to evenly distribute the sheen.
February in Sydney is August in Nashville. Except I don't have air conditioning in Sydney. We spend the day in and out of the car, racing from car to building, looking for a place under a tree to park in the shade, keeping the blinds closed tight from seven a.m. on, fans are on high all day, we are hiding from the blatant, forward heat.
Today it reached 41C(105.8F). Yep.
There was a total fire ban today and along with the morning news we were warned that today is a high fire risk day. That's Australia. They're always warning us the the sun will scorch us, the air is going to choke in our throats, or a fire will burn us up. Yet, I love this place.
Nearly three years in, I could lie on my lawn just hugging the earth. Every day I've been eating tomatoes hot off the vine. This place, as much as it hurts me at times, nourishes my soul.
Heat tends to bring out the worst in me. I get blurry eyed and mean, to be honest. But even at 8:53 in the evening, and 32C(89F), I love this country. I love this place.
*Australians have picked up a New Zealand slang habit. You just pin "as" on the back of anything to say that it is good, or okay. "Sweet as", "hot as", etc. You can also tack "bro" on the end for added emphasis.
Since we are about to get twelve inches of snow dumped on us, I could go for being "hot as" right about now.
How can you stand not having an air conditioner?!
Posted by: Kelly | 01 February 2011 at 10:13 AM