Summer hibernation

Its that time of year again - time for Bill and I to curl up in our air-conditioned home and wait for the oppressive wilting heat outside to go away. It seems like this has become ritual by now. We are always so busy with traveling, friends and family gatherings, concerts, adventures and general shenanigans.... until the thermometer hits a steady 105F or so.

Its too hot to do anything outside for a any length of time. The heat just saps away our will to do anything but nap. I know, I know. There are folks who move to Phoenix for the sole purpose of being able to enjoy these summer months. They revel in climbing mountains and running the city streets in the brutal oven of summer, bronzing their skin under the relentless sun. These people are sick and crazed. I'm sorry, but srsly, its fricking hot out there! I tell folks not familiar with Phoenix's brand of dry scorching heat that they can experience it simply by heating their over, and then opening the door. That dry hot blast in the face? That's Phoenix, from May to October.

So, after a few false starts this year, the weather has finally settled into its well-worn path of blistering temperatures and cloudless skies. The calendar hanging on our fridge, packed with adventures and events for the last several months, is now a wasteland of empty dates until the last part of August.

It's still plenty hot in Phoenix in August, but for some reason it seems that we rouse from our hibernation always around my birthday. We listen to the wanderlust, and we hit the road for cooler climes. Somehow it refreshes us, reawakens us, and we find ourselves again filling in the calendar after we return. I always look forward to it, even as I enjoy the lazy naps and movie marathons of summer. This year, maybe I will even get back to editing my novel. Or I'll reorganize the kitchen in a fit of productivity.

Or maybe I'll just nap and dream of cooler weather and rainstorms....