The other day I walked into our local meat market and the owner --- who also cuts hay on the side --- informed me that his customers keep coming in and saying it is hotter than it used to be and that was not the case. He was born and raised in this area and the summers have always been this hot. Is that so? I am not sure. I remember being pretty hot growing up. Like him, I remember the blurred heat rising up off the roads and over the grass in the fields kind of doing a wave. I remember it being so humid and hot it felt like I could literally swallow the air.
Of course, reports are saying the earth is heating up. Latest reports state that 2021 was the hottest summer throughout the years of 1970 up until now. Research states that the southern hemisphere is even hotter than us due to the larger areas of water. And when states were ranked as being the hottest in the summertime Louisiana popped right up to the top like a cork being released by a catfish. Is it news that it gets hot in the summertime?
In the 70's kids didn't play inside. When the sun came up we headed outside and climbed trees, roamed fields, drank from a likely toxic garden hose, and discovered abandoned birds' nests. I believe we became acclimated to the heat as it gradually rose by simply being out in it. I certainly have no memory of mom packing us a thermos of ice water and applying sun screen. Common sense would lead kids to a heavy shade tree or a dip in a pond and the adventures would begin again.
I have memories of being barefoot because in the 70's children were barefoot in the summertime. I remember walking down the country road in front of our house and popping the bubbled up asphalt with my big toes. The tar would become so hard on the bottom of my feet Mom couldn't scrub them clean. I remember climbing up in a tree on the fence separating our two fields between my house and my grandmother's. There was a smoky haze across the horizon and the cows stood motionless half covered by the large pond or under a shade tree. It was hot in the summertime in the daytime and it continued to be lukewarm at night.
Thunderstorms would bubble up by 4:00 in the afternoon so trips to swim in the river needed to be shortly after lunch. After a few hours splashing in the fresh cold water the horizon would turn into a dark charcoal grey and rumbling would rise up in one groan after another. We would pile into the back of a pickup truck with wet hair and soggy feet to head home to beat the lightning.
As I sit in my office and write this that same southern sky is turning that old charcoal grey and the moans echoing from that source confirm that a summer shower is about to cool down a day that reached 105 on the heat index as my neighborhood was just informed by a retired veteran who checks these things for us in the depths of winter and the heart of summertime. It was a very hot day in south Louisiana much like many in the past.
Children likely spent this day in backyard swimming pools or splash pads in parks or family gyms. They possibly sat in the air-conditioning playing video games or watching one of the 700 channels on their television or the endless sites to be found on I-pads. And babies took their afternoon naps with diffusers of lavender pelted into the cool bedroom. Is our earth slowly warming up while this took place? I have no idea aside from what reports tell us.
But, I do agree with our local provider of fresh meat and produce. It was hot back in those days, and it is still hot to this day. I don't believe the children of today have quite the experience of summertime in the pasture and woods to compare with our memories. I doubt they have those summertime cravings of lemonade and watermelon. And thankfully they are not popping tar with their toes and drinking from a toxic garden hose. Summertime in the 70's was hot and we tough kiddos leaping over snakes and catching fish with breadballs can testify.
It is summer, and it is the south. It's gonna be hot.
