~on the last day of June~
~on the last day of June~
The summer is flying by us at record speed once again and just like always, we wonder where the days go. These last few weeks of June have brought us hot and humid temperatures and the uncomfortable feeling of being permanently stuck in an outdoor sauna. I don't remember weather like this being all that unbearable as a kid. As a 63-year old adult, it becomes a different story.
Yesterday Mike and I were working outside in the early morning hours as we tried to get our chores done before the most unbearable part of the day arrived. The growing of grass necessitates its cutting, whether or not you want to do it. So the push mower and I got busy. Mike was working on the outdoor steps he is making for the front, trying to repair a break in the cement of the porch. By close to noon time we were getting finished up, just as the summer sun was overhead. Right before getting ready to call it for the day, we decided to go over to an area of the yard that we've been working on for several weeks now. Mike had several garden pavers that needed to be moved and aligned so that a proper drainage area for the front yard could be established.
It looked like a simple enough task for two 60-somethings to do.
It was not.
By the time I had moved a dozen or so of them, I knew it was time to quit. My body was telling me to "stop" and to do it right now. I'm sure Mike was feeling the very same thing, and so that's what we did. We gave it up, walked into the house and didn't return until the late evening hours last night. At the end of the evening, all the pavers were arranged and ready to be filled with stone on another day.
And the most important thing was this.
Neither of us had to fall victim to heat exhaustion.
I used to be a little more stubborn with regard to things like this, just ask anyone who knew me 8 years ago. I just HAD to make it to day #4 of the Bike Across Kansas back in the summer of 2011, even though I was struggling with heat exhaustion that day. 200 miles across the state, I finally gave up and called my son to come and get me. He took me straight the hospital back in Hutchinson where the doctor gave the orders to hook me up to some fluids right away. Giving up and not finishing the remaining 200 miles or so was a bitter pill to swallow. Yet I remember thinking about the graveyards that my bike rode by that summer and how they were filled with those who never even got the chance.
I'd like to think I am a little wiser today about the heat.
With age comes wisdom, or at least we can hope.
Stay well everyone, on the last day of June and always.
I had the best of intentions of taking this bike all the way across Kansas in 2011. The heat and humidity of summer said otherwise that June day.
The summer is flying by us at record speed once again and just like always, we wonder where the days go. These last few weeks of June have brought us hot and humid temperatures and the uncomfortable feeling of being permanently stuck in an outdoor sauna. I don't remember weather like this being all that unbearable as a kid. As a 63-year old adult, it becomes a different story.
Yesterday Mike and I were working outside in the early morning hours as we tried to get our chores done before the most unbearable part of the day arrived. The growing of grass necessitates its cutting, whether or not you want to do it. So the push mower and I got busy. Mike was working on the outdoor steps he is making for the front, trying to repair a break in the cement of the porch. By close to noon time we were getting finished up, just as the summer sun was overhead. Right before getting ready to call it for the day, we decided to go over to an area of the yard that we've been working on for several weeks now. Mike had several garden pavers that needed to be moved and aligned so that a proper drainage area for the front yard could be established.
It looked like a simple enough task for two 60-somethings to do.
It was not.
By the time I had moved a dozen or so of them, I knew it was time to quit. My body was telling me to "stop" and to do it right now. I'm sure Mike was feeling the very same thing, and so that's what we did. We gave it up, walked into the house and didn't return until the late evening hours last night. At the end of the evening, all the pavers were arranged and ready to be filled with stone on another day.
And the most important thing was this.
Neither of us had to fall victim to heat exhaustion.
I used to be a little more stubborn with regard to things like this, just ask anyone who knew me 8 years ago. I just HAD to make it to day #4 of the Bike Across Kansas back in the summer of 2011, even though I was struggling with heat exhaustion that day. 200 miles across the state, I finally gave up and called my son to come and get me. He took me straight the hospital back in Hutchinson where the doctor gave the orders to hook me up to some fluids right away. Giving up and not finishing the remaining 200 miles or so was a bitter pill to swallow. Yet I remember thinking about the graveyards that my bike rode by that summer and how they were filled with those who never even got the chance.
I'd like to think I am a little wiser today about the heat.
With age comes wisdom, or at least we can hope.
Stay well everyone, on the last day of June and always.
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