Yesterday, the temperature at The Homestead reached one hundred degrees. Now, southern Utah is known for its clear skies and hot sun, but, at 6,000 feet above sea level, Parowan rarely sees triple digits. In fact, since we moved here two and a half years ago, I’m not sure I’ve seen it in the hundreds. The low-nineties are not uncommon, but 100 degrees?My brother-in-law has a theory that a person can always cool down, but that it can sometimes be difficult, if not impossible, for a person to get warm. I hold the opposite theory: You can always warm up, but sometimes there is nothing you can do to cool down. Yesterday was a case in point.
Let’s say that you have four things—a t-shirt, a pair of jeans, a shovel, and an axe. Let’s say that you are at The Homestead’s woodpile. Let’s say that it is 40 degrees. What can you do? Well, you can use the axe to split some wood; that will warm you up. You can use the axe and the shovel to build a shelter; that will warm you up. You can burn the wood you just split inside the shelter; that will warm you up.
If, however, you have the same four things in the same location, and it is 100 degrees, what can you do? Well, you can take off the t-shirt. (This is a family-friendly blog, so you can’t take off the jeans. ) You can use the axe and the shovel to build a shelter from the sun, but you’ll still be sitting in 100 degree shade. And, of course, building the shelter might cause you to expire from heat exhaustion anyway. So, basically, you can do nothing . . . but suffer.
Any questions?
I'm with you. Take it from a guy who has seen 130 (although it was a dry heat - the phrase that'll get you slapped in Baghdad...), you can always dress warmer but you can't always dress cooler.
ReplyDelete100 is just getting comfortable! put the tools away until it's 20 below and you need to break the ice off your new roof. then go sit in the river - you'll be getting our to warm-up before you know it.
ReplyDelete