Happy Alban Heru... Ugh.
Jun. 22nd, 2022 11:46 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
kimberlysteeleI have never been fond of summer. Summer has always been my weakest point of the year on all levels. From about age twelve onwards, summers made me angry because they were the time I became a prey animal for various male perverts, and the problem was that I helped portray that role because as a non-ascetic, I wanted to be looked at by cute boys.
Physically, summer is rough on me and I'm not sure why. My genetic stock is Japanese from the big island (it's hot there, especially in summer), Mediterranean, and Celtic. For some odd reason, the 25 percent of Irish/English won the war for my temperament, and the second the temperature rises above 80 degrees, my body gets upset. There is a period of about a week that I go through where I sweat excessively. My appetite fades away to the point where I have to force myself to eat, yet I become grumpy because I am sort of hungry. I'm already imbalanced towards the hot and dry, and for whatever reason, the hot and wet onslaught of an Illinois summer makes it far worse.
I like wearing my hair down, especially as middle age has given me the fun gift of emerging jowls. There's no way to wear long, heavy hair down in the summer: it's like having a piece of wet shag carpeting on your neck. There's also the problem of not being able to bathe in deodorant. I know... it's called soap. I am acquainted with it. Back in my youth, I would bathe or shower twice a day in summer. I still bathe once a day or I am unable to sleep -- ah, the life of a spoiled princess! Summer brings out a zillion defensive strategies I don't need in other seasons: special footie socks to absorb sweat, hair clips, air conditioning.
Here's Too Much Information
Hot and dry equals constipation, not just of the regular kind but of the etheric kind. Despite the fact I don't use marijuana, in the summer I have the chronic pot smoker's pipe dreams and subsequent listlessness. One of the reasons I don't use pot is because it gives me the urge to create. As a creative person with lots of interests and very little time, the last thing I want is to be more creative. Summer fills me with ideas I can do nothing or precious little about. This was especially frustrating as a younger woman because I was not aware of what was happening. My creative urges would get the better of me, but instead of writing, making a craft, or gardening, I would call my friends. We would then go to Chicago by car or by train and make pests of ourselves by sitting in a café for hours. Had we been smarter, we would have confined our café-sitting to places that weren't forty five minutes to an hour away.
Gardening has been one of the better cures I have found for etheric constipation. (For regular constipation, daily bouts of gentle cardiovascular exercise for as long as you can stand it seems to be the best remedy.) Digging and squatting seems to be the astral equivalent of taking a poop: you have to process some dirt in order to get clean.
It's a Bummer Because Summer Makes Me Dumber
I don't believe myself to be the sharpest tool in the shed in the first place, but intellectual pursuits become far more arduous for me when it is hot outside. If you find that summer enhances your mental faculties, good for you! It's not the case for me. I find myself re-reading the same passage three times just to comprehend it, and half the skills I ought to have from being raised with computers magically disappear when my cellphone goes awry.
Of course you don't hear me complaining about all the fresh vegetables and fruit, including the ones grown or foraged from my own yard. Summer does have its plusses. The garden is absolutely beautiful this year... pictures forthcoming later this week.
no subject
Date: 2022-06-24 01:16 am (UTC)I, too, hate summer.
Except for the gardening. That I like. But it doesn't make up for all the other misery.
I'm of mixed Mediterranean and British Isles heritage, but for me, like you, the British Isles side apparently won out. I loathe the heat with every fiber of my being. I find cool, damp, cloudy, overcast days to be less unpleasant than heat. I'll take a snow storm over a heat wave any day.
I've found that most people are the opposite. Everyone likes moderate, comfortable temperatures, but most people will take "too hot" over "too cold" and find winter more oppressive than summer. I'm the opposite. Apparently, people like me (us) are in the minority.
I also don't understand all the people who say "I get depressed in the winter." I don't. I find winter more invigorating than summer, and the extreme heat makes me lethargic and logy.
Hang in there, though. We just passed the longest day of the year. The weather will grow hotter (and the vegetables will thrive), but the days are getting shorter. It's not that much longer until the seasons change again, and we can harvest our gardens and welcome fall.
no subject
Date: 2022-06-24 04:22 am (UTC)I find the same thing -- people adore heat and hate winter. They want to live in California (or at least they did before it became the national toilet), Texas, and Florida. They think shoveling snow is the absolute worst. Heat is deadly though. If you can't get cool, you stroke out. I used to watch a TV series called Farscape. There was a character named Erin Sun who was from a race of humanoids who immediately begins to break down if the ambient temperature goes above 90. I empathized with that character's plight.
I'm not complaining about the fresh lettuce I'm harvesting for a salad though, am I? Farm to table in 30 seconds.
no subject
Date: 2022-06-25 01:21 pm (UTC)Thanks as ever for your posts. That's so interesting about etheric constipation. Today I'm decluttering my desk, and that seems to be helping in that wise.
A quick question. Yyou mentioned in earlier post about giving your cat caledula oil and marshmallow root for inflamed gums and bad breath. Can you share the name of the medicine, if it is online to buy? Or, how can I can make it at home?
Good wishes
Smaragdine Ponderous Bugbear
no subject
Date: 2022-06-25 05:29 pm (UTC)Decluttering the desk should help greatly! I need to do that.
Yes, the medication I buy for Ashley (my gray cat) is from Pet Wellbeing. It's called Healthy Gums: https://tinyurl.com/hs6cd66e
I have made an analog of it from calendula oil and marshmallow root extract once, but for the time being, I'm giving Ash the original brand name formula. Once the calendula I have planted in my garden spreads, I'll try making calendula oil myself out of the dried flowers. Ash has digestive issues and nausea and Healthy Gums seems to prevent him from vomiting. I give it to him with some liquid bisque style cat treat after every meal, about 5-7 mL each time. He and Shadow eat 3x a day, small meals of about 2 oz. of soft canned food per meal. I have been getting Healthy Gums oil from Chewy.com with my regular orders.
no subject
Date: 2022-06-26 08:22 pm (UTC)Beat the heat
Date: 2022-06-26 05:17 am (UTC)There are a couple tricks to making it enjoyable. First, hang the hammock so that with your weight the nadir of the hammock side is at or below the distance between the floor and your knee. This allows you to roll out of hammock safely and easily. Second, spend time laying on both sides and your tummy to avoid causing back issues. Third, use a travel pillow to support your neck in the back and side positions and for the tummy position lay face down on it as though it was a massage table pillow.
I don't know how well this method works in very high humidity environments, but it works well dealing with the summer heat in Portland, OR. Last summer we hit 115 degrees.
Hope this helps,
-MF
Re: Beat the heat
Date: 2022-06-26 05:38 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2022-06-29 04:39 pm (UTC)In summer I feel so productive and energetic, doing lots of manual labor. Winter is the worst because I WANT to do things but am so tired and listless.
I imagine it's a combination of one's astrological chart, yin/yang balance, and a number of other factors that dictates such preferences.