Feeling hot, hot, hot...........

Dear Bloggers,

A few days ago it was hot and humid in all of the Netherlands and I did not want to go anywhere on this day as it is too bloody hot out there. Now, I am not a person who idly switches on the air-conditioning unit when the temperature rises above 27c (If I would have had one as the Dutch climate is normally not having that many hot days.) but today is just a bit different. Going out of the house is not an option as there is no wind and it is 34c degrees in the shadow and outside my kids are in the pool filled with cold water under a huge sunscreen and yes, they are having a good time.

We are checking every 15 minutes on them as sitting outside is not an option, when you walk out of the back door it was like walking into a heated oven or an over-heated sauna. Both of those terms describe a hot day and have lost their meaning through overuse but as a previous resident of Sydney [hot and sweaty during summer days] and Darwin [so hot and dry in Summer that the skin flakes off your hands and feet like fish-scales] I can safely say that today in Lip-City is one of the most hottest and unpleasant I have ever known. One of the most unpleasant because the most unpleasant was one day several years ago when I still worked on a cruiseliner during the Summer, when my I walked from the harbour of Lesbos, in to town when the mercury hit 50c. I nearly ended up suffering from heat exhaustion. I digress…

There are [thank goodness] four fans in the living room area and as I write they are all on their highest setting, going at full blast. It is though, still not what I would call “fresh” in here. I am though, in the lap of luxury compared to most neighbors. Think also for a moment about my numerous friends in caravans or tents on campingplaces as they have booked their holidays several months ago. And what about the ones who are in the holiday parks living in these cast-concrete panel homes that take on the summer heat like firebricks and of course, none of them have air-conditioning…

Discrete indoor summer nudity [or near nudity] is commonplace during these days but it can still get you in somekind of trouble. I like to run around with my top off during these days. But when I need to go outside in the garden I am surrounded by a two-meter high wooden fence. I don’t want to be a neighbour that was accused by his neighbor of flagrant nudity in front of his young daughters. The only way his girls could have seen them was by getting to the bedroom in their home and aiming binoculars in the direction of the garden!

We just need to sweat it out during the summer months and many take a bath every day, whether they need one or not. This can make driving on local buses a fragrant experience. Personally, as someone with a very poor sense of smell, I am grateful for my lot.

These sort of temperatures will I believe, continue through August then start to subside during September. So, as I open yet another bottle of cooling softdrink, (sugarfree of course in my good old days this would have been a beer.) I say cheers to you all living in more moderate climes, roll on winter!

The Old Sailor,