Thursday, July 17, 2008

Can you feel it?


You don't need a degree in meteorology to figure out the weather today - it is hot, sticky and extremely humid. Combine this weather with my fiery hot flashes and I think I could probably self combust. Now that would be a sight. Guess I had better ask my friend,Google, if that can really happen.


Lousy sleep last night. I was tossing and turning, trying to unstick myself from the sweaty sheets. There was no air movement. My husband was tossing, turning and sighing. Loud sighs. I tried to lay still so I wouldn't miss any breeze that might enter the room but none came my way. Finally at 5:30 AM I surrendered and got out of bed. UGH.


I grouched around the kitchen, drank my HOT coffee, felt my temperature rising. I thought about the day ahead and perked up a bit when I realized that it was my day to go hang out at GIRLS,INC with some wonderful teens. I stood up slowly since my sweaty legs were stuck to the leather couch. The last time I had sweat this much was years ago when Jane Fonda led me in aerobics, asking me if I felt the burn.


We are currently reading 'Stargirl' by Jerry Spinnelli. There are six girls in our book group. I love middle schoolers. They have one foot in childhood and one foot in adulthood. They think they know all the answers but they aren't afraid to ask the questions. As I sluggishly moved around, I thought about the activities we would work on in our group. I forgot about the heat, humidity and stickiness until I realized I had been out of the shower for less than five minutes and my armpits weren't smelling so sweet already. Great. Could be a very long day.


I walked through the doors of GIRLS,INC and I felt it. Almost immediately. It started with a smile and then a wave. The girls from my group recognized me and sauntered over as only middle school girls can. They grabbed their books and their journals. The room we met in was stifling hot - no AC, no windows but who cares? I could feel the powerful energy of adolescence wrapping itself around me. These girls were ready for a serious book discussion and I was NOT going to let them down. Move over, heat. Back off humidity. I didn't have time to deal with sticky pits and droopy hair. These girls deserved to spend time with an adult who was alert, attentive and focused. For ninety minutes we read, we discussed serious stuff and we wrote about how we were feeling. And for the first time all day I didn't feel grouchy, hot and miserable. I felt alive.







4 comments:

david mcmahon said...

Thanks for the visit and the wonderful comment.

You'd enjoy our weather at the moment - close to freezing overnight and snow in our hills.

It's the Aussie midwinter!

Marg said...

We must be two peas in a pod.
I did not sleep all night and many times I was going to go make some new posts. I've done that before.
But it's not humid here...We're lucky , it goes down to 10' at night.
Way to go to encourage those young girls. I admire you and it's good to know people who help make the difference for others.

Melissa said...

it's been super hot here, but not too humid. Of course, that's because we won't get any rain for another five months or so. I guess that's the tradeoff! And like I said before, it's a good thing you like kids that age, because if I have any, they're living with you from the time they're twelve until they are nice grown ups. Gives me the shivers just thinking about it ;)

Anonymous said...

I has been very hot and humid here. My usual method of coping is avoidance - accomplished by staying in the air conditioning. ;-)

I think your way of reaching out to others is much more commendable.

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