Crazy From the Heat

I spent the 4th of July weekend dealing with health problems and trying to keep myself from going crazy from the heat. While I'm still waiting to hear if my health problems are minor or major, at least the heat has subsided in the Chicago area. But last weekend, it was largely awful here due to the "heat dome" that overtook large parts of the United States. As I get older, I find myself unable to deal with hot weather the way I used to when I was younger. I grew up in a house that did not have air conditioning, but there was no global warming back then either, so temps in my home state of Michigan didn't heat up the way they do now. The apartment where I live now doesn't have central air, but I do have a window air conditioner and portable units for my bedrooms. I've been able to get by with those, but "getting by" often means sequestering myself in one room, closing the door, and staying in that room to stay cool. It's a little claustrophobic, but it's the price I have to pay for coolness. The next place I live (and there will be a next place, sooner than later, if everything works out), has to have central air. I'm done with the wall and portable air conditioning units. I want coolness in every room.

Last weekend, I truly felt the effects of being crazy from the heat. It wasn't just the heat that was making me crazy either. It was the heat on top of my anxiety over my health problems that were pushing me closer to the edge. I really need to start getting into meditation or get on anti-anxiety drugs. Not that I want yet another pill to take each day, but I'd do it to have calmness. 

I'm longing for the days in June when we had high temps in the 70s during the day and the 50s and 60s at night. Fall and winter can't come soon enough!