Snow squalls to heat waves,
Furnaces to air-con units ...
The changes I make my body go through ... some day, I'm going to live in a place where the environment doesn't play such a large role in my day-to-day planning. Where is that? San Diego? New Zealand?
 |
| Ah, glorious snow |
A little over a week ago, in New England and the mid-Atlantic areas of the U.S., I was in my "fight off the biting cold" routine, which I had adopted for five months ... this entailed:
* Finding heat sources (furnaces, fires, warm cat bodies, heated buses, libraries, etc.) so I could get work done.
* Layering up before heading outside to retain what body heat I could and fending off frost bite (t-shirt, main shirt, fleece, jacket, gloves, hat, scarf covering neck/throat), and trying not to let static "hat-head" frighten others.
* Assessing whether I needed to ride or could walk (I used the baseline of "above freezing" as the magic number ... if it was too close to 32 degrees Fahrenheit (0 degrees Centigrade), the cold would slowly but surely defeat even the generated heat of my walking).
* Finding a way to exercise without going outside (unless the temperature was above freezing ... see above). This included racquetball, indoor bikes, and indoor pools.
*If I walked any distance, avoiding heading through snow piles and standing water (unless I happened to be wearing my "rub bah" boots) and soaking up any sun I could find along the way.
Now, granted, I was on the move for most of the five months and I hadn't seen a "real winter" since the end of 2009 (when Tan and I left during the midst of a raging snowstorm for Japan/Thailand) and of course, there's the general consensus that the winter of 2013-2014 was noteworthy for its intensity and length ... and last but not least, the inconvenience of owning only one fleece and one coat because I had assumed I was only going to be in the U.S. for a month. The coat, it should be noted, felt more and more like a heavy "spring" jacket during the coldest days.
After five months of this, a week ago, I stepped off the plane and was plunged into the blast furnace of the Southeast Asian Summer, with its 90+ degree days and 80% humidity, and the rules for my day-to-day preparation changed accordingly:
* Finding cold/cool sources (coffee shops, malls, libraries, etc.) so I can get work done.
* Layering up for sweat management before heading out (wicking t-shirt to absorb sweat, dress shirt on top, light pants ... the zip-off short-pants become very critical on off-days).
 |
| Ah, glorious heat ... |
* Finding a way to exercise before 8 a.m. or after the sun has gone down.
*As I walk, heading toward shaded areas, and avoiding the direct scorching of the relentless sun.
It feels like two sides of the coin ... one frozen, and the other scorched. You either seek the sun or you fear it, and the environment rules the day. Prepare yourself as best you can.
At least, in some respects, Thailand's weather is relatively predictable, and it's a waste of time to check the weather report for storms (something I'd do quasi-religiously during my five months of winter in the U.S. before planning any travel). Even during the rainy season in Thailand, the only thing you have to know is to run inside from 4 to 6 p.m. to avoid the afternoon rains.
This sudden change, this forced conversion from cold to hot has me wondering ... am I forever destined to be dictated to by the larger forces of nature? Will I ever be in a position where I don't have to care how I look, with static hair or a sweat-drenched shirt? Will it only get worse and worse as climate change ratchets everything up to 11?
Can't wait to move to New Zealand ...
*My titular shout-out to this Crowded House song ...
No comments:
Post a Comment