Why is it that whenever we have a heatwave in England, we can’t cope with it? Yet when we go on holiday somewhere else, we stretch ourselves out on a sun lounger all day, covered in baby oil in thirty degrees heat?
I guess we just aren’t set up for the sun over here. I don’t know about you, but my house doesn’t have air conditioning, I don’t have a swimming pool in my back garden and it’s hard to indulge in sundowners every night when you have to get up at 6am to go to work.
The realities of a heatwave in England are that we have to get up before the sun to walk our dogs, and scuttle quickly between the shaded areas on the street in the fear that we could catch fire at any moment. At work we can feel the sweat dripping down our backs, moistening our waist bands and dampening the backs of our shirts. Our houses feel as though they are around a thousand degrees, so we open all the windows and put on fans which just does nothing other than move the hot air around quicker. And the nights…oh, the nights! Best not to talk about them.
There’s really only one solution and that is to go on holiday somewhere cold. Ive heard Iceland is pretty cool at this time of year. And I do mean the country, as opposed to the shop. Although it would be a lot cheaper to go to the shop and just stand in front of the freezers.
One of the hardest things in a heatwave is trying to keep my dog cool. Afterall, he has a big fur coat that he cant take off, so unless we take him to the groomers and ask for a full body shave, he really suffers through the heat. He is a bit of a twit though. He will lie in full sun given half the chance, panting like he’s just run a marathon. We’ve bought him cool mats to lie on, but he won’t. We’ve brought fans home, but they annoy him. One year I even bought him his very own paddling pool to cool off in. Turns out he’s scared of water!
So, this year, if the temperatures continue to soar, I’m going to concentrate on keeping myself cool. If you need me, you will find me not in Iceland (unless it’s the shop), but in Costa del Buckinghamshire, sitting in Barkley’s paddling pool in the garden. And as the sun goes down, I shall sip on a glass of something cool and fizzy.
Sherry x
