I’m not in THE doldrums, yet. That would be an area of calm, boring water north of the equator where the tradewinds don’t blow. The word probably comes from “dold”, think dolt, for stupid and “drum” which is akin to the “trum” of tantrum. Put it together and it spells stupid state or something similar. At any rate, even with one small doldrum perched on my doorstep, I’m bored.
The weather is hot, hazy and humid. Daughter has a rash and is on antibiotics and being remarkably cheerful about the whole thing, but still. We’re besieged by gnats that get through the screens as soon as it gets dark, but we can’t shut the windows or we’d suffocate or maybe, just melt. Did I mention that it’s in the 90′s in the daytime and only in the 70′s at night?
No global warming here, folks. Maine is always steamy. Famous for it. “Hey, let’s go down to Maine,” the Inuit say in July, “Remember, the place where it’s so hot that you have to take off your sealskin coat at the border.” Well, maybe they don’t really say that, but I remember when I first came to Maine 20 years ago, almost no one had air conditioners, because there were only about two days a year that you needed them.
Now, as soon as the June monsoon stops, the heat and humidity waft up from New Jersey, along with a few million of those stripey mosquitoes they have in the Garden State. I’m not good with heat. I wilt. I get irritable. I snap and snarl and start wishing I could just go stay at a motel for a week, with my laptop and a supply of Wodehouse books. They’re the only reading I can get interested in when the weather is like this. Anything else isn’t funny enough and is too hard to concentrate on.
Since that doesn’t seem to be in the cards, I’ll share with you some of the places I’ve been in a somewhat successful attempt to distract myself from the weather. My favorite is first, but they’re all good if you’re completely surrounded by nothing to do. Have at it.
- Deafness in Disguise – Concealed Hearing Devices of the 19th and 20th Centuries
- Eternity Travel-Plan your burial, choose your mummification method etc
- Popups and Movable Books – A History
- Dismuke’s Virtual Talking Machine – Vintage Phonograph Recordings 1900-1939
- Homemade Science Toys – Make a snake charmer duck call
- Tales of Futures Past – Past Predictions About the Future
I am like you when I am too hot. I actually am non-functional. I lose brain function can’t make decisions, can’t decide, oh you want me to determine something?? Don’t ask me to work, cook, clean – don’t t-o-u-c-h me – first pregnancy we didn’t have air conditioning – I found myself at the local library ALOT. Yet when I wasn’t at the library I was truly unbearable to be around. My first husband should have left me. I admit to running the AC when it’s hot in current times. I like in my current apartment that I can run a unit where I am at the time, acknowledging the flow of my day rather than run all 3 to keep the entire apartment cool. I would never ever manage my work load otherwise. I don’t like that the heat from the attic and the heat from the apt below are also part of what I am cooling. I wish I had more Mother Earth gumption with regard to that one. I pretty much fail in that department.
Speaking of Maine — this reminded me of you. I seem to recall you are a master of knitted socks http://www.soulemama.com/soulemama/2008/07/knitting-for-ne.html
Well! I marched right on over there and checked out the knitting project and sent an email to see if socks are okay. They don’t mention them on the list, but I can do scarves if socks won’t do.
Thank you so much, Karen for posting the link. It’s in the high 80′s today here again and I’m thanking my lucky stars that I decided to put my computer room in the basement where there’s a cement floor. I get a lot of company under the ceiling fan here, from cats to kids to the poor old Black Lab who doesn’t like the heat any more than I do. I hope you’re not melting today.
Shine On,
Lill
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