Heat

It's hot in Australia right now.  Especially on the west coast where daughter number one is living.  She says the wind is like having a hairdyer blowing into your face. On the "hot" setting.  It's been in the mid to high 30s for weeks and over 40 degrees some days. 

The Fremantle Doctor isn't making anyone feel any better either.  The Freo Doctor, or commonly just The Doctor, is the name for the ocean breeze that starts up in the afternoon bringing relief from the relentless summer heat.  The Doctor blows during the summer months and usually takes a break during winter. 

Heat like that saps your energy.  You don't sleep as well at night and you move more slowly during the day. Grass is dry and prickly underfoot.  Plants wilt. Sweat trickles.  Just as Stockholmers in winter walk on the sunny side of the street, Australians are busy seeking out the shade.

So as I turn on my heater to bump up the temperature in our apartment (our windows are old and the cold leaks in at night), I'm thinking of her sleeping on the loungeroom floor because that's where the air-conditioner is.