It isn't even June and I am already complaining about the heat. Maybe if I didn't have to wear long sleeve shirts, wool socks, and gor-tex insulated boots it wouldn't be so bad.
Did you ever notice when it it well over 100 your breath feels cool on your lips.
Your lungs have much more surface area then your skin and provide most of the heat transfer between you and your environment.
We have pallets of water stacked everywhere so we don't dehydrate. If you take a liter of water and start pouring it out as you walk, the first bit will have evaporated before the bottle is empty.
I actually cooked an egg on a rooftop once. True story.
You have to wear gloves to work on a Blackhawk in the summer because the aluminum skin can burn you very quickly.
On a day when I work outside, I will drink over two gallons of water. For every mile I walk, I typically pour about a pint over myself and in my hat to stay cool.
The thermometers on our aircraft go to 50C, thats over 120F. They top out all the time; right now for example.
Many specifications for our equipment have duty cycle ratings for operating temperatures, a countless number of these specs don't go as high as they need to.
Because American contractors aren't very clever, we keep our plumbing water in above ground tanks that are heated by the sun. When you turn on the "cold" water, its as scalding hot as any water heater. There is no such thing as a cold shower here until winter.
63 Years of Memories....
63 Years of Memories....
that's what I have now. The photo below shows the chair on the point which for so many years was my father's favorite after-supper place to contemplate and cast for walleye. As much as I feel guilty about what's happened, I know he would understand and even say there's nothing to forgive. He lived life fully and moved on many times. I'm the one with the unique experience of being attached to a beautiful place for my whole life. And despite all my best efforts, yesterday the 'cabin' was sold. I signed the papers and, truth be told, a weight was lifted. A new life lies ahead without the obligations, but with all of the wonderful memories. My unrelentingly positive attitude says this is truly how it is, but my heart is still sad.
There are some things in life for which the balance between the obligation and the joy of ownership often cannot be sustained forever. It became clear that I was no longer up to the task of taking care of the place quite a while back. However, knowing what needs to be done and doing it are often far apart. Finally, no choice was left. It had to be sold.
Now it's gone. No more worrying about how long the grass or how deep the snow is up there. No more sublimely pleasurable early morning cups of coffee sitting on the dock when the color of the lake is like pale blue glass and the air is completely still. No more endless repairs, high taxes, and utility bills. No more late nights around the fire pit with friends and family - warm from both fire and friendship. No more frozen pipes or emergency calls to the furnace guys. No more saunas and midnight skinny dipping that make you feel like you'll live forever while your connection with nature is confirmed by the gazillion stars of the milky way and the loons calling out in the dark. No more concerns with low well water levels or water so hard and full of iron the clothes turn yellow and your newly washed hair feels like brillo. No more finding the way home by boat in the dark after a long day on the lake feeling like this is the only place you really, really belong. No more praying that the boathouse will make it another year without collapsing. And ultimately, no more making new memories with friends, family and loved ones. No new memories, that is, at Half Bay, Lake Vermilion, Tower, MN. New life... here we come!
How do you thank a place for memories?
1 comment:
Look upon the heat merely as preparation for living in FL. It's like training.
Post a Comment