Photo Source: ©Melanie Neer. Personal collection. Glass photo of my great-great grandmother circa 1860s..yes folks that's my great-great grandmother!
It seems the older I get, the less I can tolerate the hot weather. I'm sitting here in front of my computer with one of my fans blowing full blast and it doesn't even seem to be making a dent in making it cooler in my place. Since I'm on very low income, to save money I plain don't have Air Conditioning as I just wouldn't be able to hack a higher electric bill.
I reflect on how things were when I was a kid and remember that during the summer I didn't think twice about playing, bike riding, running even in the hottest of days…I must have been out of my mind! Now that I'm older I'm dragging myself around, I have brain fog, I'm drinking so many liquids to keep hydrated I'll soon float. I also periodically go into the kitchen and literally dunk cold water on my head to cool off. Oh, and thank goodness people can't see me while I'm in front of the computer as I'm not exactly a fashion plate.
I then started thinking…just HOW did our ancestors cope with the hot weather? I'm particularly thinking of say during the time of my great-great grandparents and great-grandparents. Naturally in those days there was no such thing as Air Conditioning nor even fans to cool down. Clothing was completely different in those days. One wasn't exactly wearing shorts or sleeveless shirts, but instead "proper" women wore to the floor fully sleeved dresses and underneath usually some kind of petticoats and whalebone corsets, also stockings of some kind and heavy type shoes (no sandals). I also so remember my grandmother telling me that when a proper lady went out for the day, she would wear gloves…yes, even in the summertime! Gentlemen in those days would wear the full kit and caboodle consisting of a shirt, vest and suit at all times, even at home.
Also in those days gone by, if one wanted to eat, one had to quite literally slave over that hot stove to cook meals…uh, no microwave in those days. Since people of those times had to do ALL home cooking that would even mean making the bread for the day…there weren't exactly markets to buy what one needed. Another thing I remember my grandmother telling me was that my great grandmother would get up at the crack of dawn to start making the home made breads and biscuits when the temperature was a "tad" cooler. Yea gads, can you imagine being stuck in the kitchen, with the stove and/or oven on while dressed in the attire of those days? I can barely stand to heat up water on the stove let alone cook a full blown meal during the summer, which is why I usually stick to salads or something.
Anyway, bottom line. I'm no fan of the summer…I hate, hate, hate it. Uh, did I mention I hate the summer? It's only a few days into the official start of summer and I'm already wishing for snow!
How do you cope with the summer? Are you a fan or not?
