I don’t normally like to complain about the weather but I’m making an exception. It has been so hot for two weeks in Southern California. Every day we are experiencing record-setting temperatures. It’s not only hot during the day, but the evenings have been cooling down to a brisk 85 degrees. I’m thinking of employing these somewhat nerdy options to beat the heat.
Binge Watch
There are so many television shows that I want to watch, unfortunately I just don’t have the time. Alycia and I are watching Breaking Bad for the first time. We got to the end of season two, which finished with an amazing cliffhanger, and we’ve been too busy to start season three. If it’s too hot to leave your air conditioned home, you might as well call in sick, avoid human contact and fire up Netflix. I’d want to finish Breaking Bad and maybe get started on Farscape or Chuck. Sure, there are ways to be more productive in the heat, but none as entertaining.
Cold Movies
I’ve spent most of my life in Southern California. A lot of people say they couldn’t live here because we don’t have seasons. We have four seasons, they’re just more difficult to distinguish and less severe. I’ve seen more snow in movies than I have in real life and good way to beat the heat is to watch a cold movie. The Empire Strikes Back, Frozen, Ice Age, The Nightmare Before Christmas or Dumb and Dumber. It may be 100 degrees outside, but you’ll feel like bundling up when Luke Skywalker races across Hoth on his tauntaun. You may also want to eat some tapioca pudding when Han slices open that tauntaun.
Go Outside
Something I’ve noticed during the current heat wave is that any relief is welcome relief. I walked into our 82-degree apartment and I was looking for Elsa. 82 degrees felt like a blast of winter goodness compared to the 105-degree temperature outside. Any time I walk outside I am so grateful when I get to go back inside. I don’t know if I’ve ever been as grateful for shelter and air conditioning as I am right now. I’ve often taken the roof over my head for granted; I can’t do that, though, when the sun is trying to kill me every time I step outside.
The weather is supposed to cool down for a few days before cranking back up again. Hopefully there’s enough on Netflix to get me through this heat wave.
How do you like to beat the heat?
“I walked into our 82-degree apartment and I was looking for Elsa.” Ha! Nice.
Good luck beating the heat. And I’m keeping in prayer those threatened by the wildfires in your state. Sadly, while California’s current heat wave will pass, the climate science suggests hot and dry conditions in the long run will only worsen. At least your state government seems to be making some serious efforts at “beating the heat” for good.
California is probably one of the most forward-thinking states when it comes to curbing climate change. Unfortunately I don’t have a lot of hope when oil companies and car companies keep hold a company like Tessla down.
Yeah, but Tesla is moving forward still: making their technology open-source and royalty-free, moving ahead with the battery plant in Arizona… So there may yet be reason for hope on that front. Of course, if the electricity powering electric cars is still derived from fossil fuels, the benefit is not as great as it might be – but getting all those carbon emissions off the road would be a major step in the right direction.