Spring in Maryland: it’s like this most years, is it not?
this
First, it’s cool as we transition from winter into spring. It rains sometimes; it’s sunny and near-perfect other times; the world transforms from the dark, gray and seemingly barren landscape of winter to a place bursting with blooming flowers, emerging green (everywhere!) and the pleasant chirping of birds.
Heaven on earth. Each year. Every year. (Maryland is, to me–and many!, a truly beautiful state in which to live.)
then
Then “it” happens–usually around mid-May (which, for the gardeners, is also the last frost date and when it’s now safe to plant tender vegetable plants outside). The “it” is when it goes from “just about perfect” to freaking HOT as heck! And humid.
My first thought when I went outside yesterday and felt the mid- 90s, record-breaking heat for the day–kinda shocked me: “When is fall coming?” That was truly my first thought when I felt the heat.
I mean, we still have half of spring and all of summer to get through (and I do love, love, love both spring and summer), but the heat and humidity, to which I was not yet acclimated, hit me hard yesterday. All projects, plans and ideas of daytime outdoor productivity just sort went on to a shelf somewhere in my mind. (Though I did manage to do some weeding in the shade, later in the day.)
that
Today, again, it’s in the 90s. Just minutes ago I walked a bag of trash, barefoot, to the community dumpster some 30-40 yards from my place. At first the heat penetrating the soles of my feet felt good in a hot-stone-therapy kind of way. Then it felt a bit like danger-danger-danger, and I questioned my choice to walk barefoot on asphalt on a day like today.
My heart sent prayers to all the dog owners in the world in hopes they’d remember how hot asphalt can get (which, I assume, is something someone wearing rubber-soled shoes might occasionally forget). Dogs’ paws need protection from the heat too!
Trash dumped, I made it back to my place without wincing too-too much and promptly turned on the AC for the first time this year and season.
What about you? How are you all handling this swift shift in temperatures? This time of transition when our bodies need to start preparing for the heat and humidity ahead?
