This actually has an upside. It’s the desert: I was aware before I moved here that deserts get hot in the summer. I’m sweating but I still much prefer this to winter. Or living in a city.
Still. It’s hot. This is actually the hottest part, after the Spring wind stops cooling things off at night but before Monsoon starts cooling things off in the afternoon. Bedtime may have to wait till WAY after dark. So what’s the upside?
I’m about to give Tobie his supper and a nice walkie – past Ian’s place where there’s a lovely shower. I used to just have to live with the sweat and grime, maybe splashing myself at the sink or with the yard hose to cool my head. You have no idea what a luxury an evening shower can be till you’ve spent a decade or two without the chance to take one.
Seriously, I’m just sitting here anticipating the pleasure I’m about to experience.
Joel: Total empathy here. I spent a miserable few months in the tropics; thankfully, there was a drought.
I thought you had a shower in the lair; is the cool water unsuitably warm by the time it reaches you there? Y’know, if the ancient Egyptian royalty could manage to have cool drinks and air conditioning, surely there is some energy-efficient way for you to have a refreshing shower at home. See “Chilled: how refrigeration changed the world, and might do so again” by Tom Jackson.
I did rig a makeshift shower in the Lair in 2019/2020 and it was definitely better than nothing. I actually forgot about that until you reminded me. Very limited quantities of very hard water, but worlds better than a sponge bath.
I recall in my teen age youth, having the job of mowing my parent’s home with a push lawn mower (not power driven). It required about 2 and a half hours and 4 pauses for gassing back up before the job was done.
The 1st half hour was getting hot and dirty. The rest of the time didn’t matter because you couldn’t possibly get any more hot and dirty. Sweat running in eyes and T-shirt soaked with sweat. When finished and mower put away, taking a cold shower and letting cold water flow over my head felt so good. I could see the steam rising from my skin..
About the best feeling in the world it was.
Is showering/bathing with hard water particularly uncomfortable? If not, then a decent-sized water trough might be a worthwhile investment (better if scrounged). Fill ‘er up and just soak.
“Yeah, but it’s a dry heat.”
This reminds me of what my boss told me when I arrived at CFS Alert* back in the seventies. When I bitched about the cold, he told me, “Yeah, but it’s a dry cold.” 😉
Hey Joel, have you ever considered picking up a Coleman portable hot water heater?
https://www.coleman.com/camp-furniture/camp-essentials/hot-water-on-demand-h2oasis-portable-water-heater/SAP_2000026562.html
* CFS Alert is located on Ellesmere Island, Nunavut, Canada and is the most northerly, permanently inhabited location in the world, located 817 kilometres (507.66 miles) from the geographic North Pole.