Try to Stay Out of the Heat if You Can

Several days this past week, the temperature topped 100 degrees. In my humble opinion, that’s about too hot to do much of anything. I’ve never really been an outdoorsy person anyway, and this just reinforces my belief that I’m better off hanging out in my house with the air conditioning running. Every time I go out, and I only go out if I must on days like those, I feel extreme sympathy for those who are out in those kinds of temperatures every day, working hard to provide a living for their families. In particular, I think of our soldiers who are currently serving, and especially those who are stationed in the Middle East or other areas where they deal with temperatures like these on a routine basis. My prayers are with them all that they will stay hydrated, well, and safe despite the extreme temperatures. And when I remember them, I try to complain a little less because I know within a matter of minutes, either I’ll be back inside my air-conditioned home or the air conditioning in the car will have kicked in to allow me to cool off.

This past weekend, on Friday evening, we lost our power for about three hours. That’s the longest our power has ever been out since I moved to this location. Needless to say, by the time it came back on, I was more than ready. I hadn’t broken out into a full sweat, but it was getting close. Today, I saw a news story that there are still some folks without electricity, and they’ve been without since Friday evening. My prayers are with all those folks. When the thermometer keeps reading over 100, it’s not a good time to be without power. In a lot of ways, I think the heat is worse than the cold. When it’s cold, you can at least keep adding layers to create warmth. When it’s hot, options are limited for staying cool.

Last summer, my boy Ben had heatstroke, and ever since then, that’s been a fear of mine. He did all the things he was supposed to do to stay hydrated, but it happened anyway. When temperatures get this extreme, I do worry a lot, especially about children and the elderly. Everybody needs to take steps to make sure they stay as hydrated as possible. If you wait until you start to feel thirsty or you start to feel bad, you’ve probably waited too long.

I’ve looked ahead to the forecast, and it’s still going to be hot, with temperatures in the 90s for the next week. There is a slight chance of thunderstorms, which could bring some much needed rain. With our two hottest months still in front of us, please take care when you must be outside. And be a good citizen and check on your elderly neighbors from time to time to make sure they’re faring well in the heat.

Summer is supposed to be hot, and this one is. It’s kind of funny how in the middle of winter when the temperatures are hovering around or below freezing, you kind of forget how hot it gets in July and August; you just wish it would warm up some. Now here we are in July, with temperatures hovering around 100, and we want cooler weather. Of course, we’d all probably be happy if the temperature would just stay around 70 degrees or so, all the time. That, however, is not going to happen, so we need to deal with what we have in a healthy way. While we’re complaining today about how hot it is, think back about six months ago when you were complaining about how cold it was, and then just wait six months and it’ll be cold again. That’s the good thing about the weather cycle; be patient and it will change to something else.

In the meantime, take the necessary precautions to keep you and your loved ones safe in these extremely hot temperatures.

Driving in the Dark

I have to address a pet peeve today – the use of headlights. Apparently some folks think as long as it’s daylight, headlights are either optional or unnecessary. Well, they’re wrong.

Headlights have two purposes, and both should seem obvious. They allow you to see so you can drive after dark, and they allow other drivers to see you. Obviously, this applies in the dark. The thing is it also applies to certain daylight driving conditions as well.

While being able to see where you’re driving is extremely important, many people never consider the fact that it is equally important for other drivers to be able to see them. A simple flip of the headlight switch can go a long way toward preventing accidents.

Driving to work this morning, it was not only misting rain but it was also very foggy. Visibility, as far as seeing the road, wasn’t really an issue, but seeing other cars was very difficult. The cars with their headlights on were no trouble to see; the cars without were another matter. I almost pulled out in front of a car because the driver didn’t have the headlights on, making it difficult to see the car until it was right upon where I was about to pull onto the road.

Being worried about forgetting to turn off the headlights should not be a concern. Many new vehicles will automatically shut them off after a particular amount of time or when the engine is shut off, and the older ones have that lovely ding-ding-ding to remind you that the headlights are on.

It only takes a small amount of effort to turn on the headlights. On mornings or evenings when it’s daylight but rainy or foggy, take the two seconds it will take and turn the headlights on. Sometimes, even if it’s the middle of the day and even if it’s not rainy or foggy, you might still need the headlights. If it’s just a dreary day, that kind of day when you’d rather be snuggled under a blanket in the recliner than driving anyway, use the headlights.

Seeing where you’re going when you’re driving is only half the battle. The other drivers on the road need to be able to see you as well. Sometimes it only take two seconds to take an action that could prevent an accident or save your life, and the thing is, you’ll never know how many times an accident has been prevented because you turned on your headlights.