Lessons learned from the Heat

Yes - three days in a row a new blog post!  Enjoy it while it lasts - vacation is coming and the posts will be less but the photos better than ever.

Although this weekend we had a great reprieve from the heat, it is just plain hot here in Spain.  95 to 105 is typical.  Sure, no humidity, but 100 is hot with or without humidity.  Sure we have a pool, but red headed, fair skinned girls like me can't stay out in the 100 degree heat, even in a pool, without looking like a lobster.  Sure, we have an air conditioner in the living room - but unfortunately due to the cost of electricity we would have to elect to be cool  and hungry instead of hot and fed.

But, on the other hand, houses in Spain are built with the 100 degree heat in mind.  The walls are concrete or stone or something and they hold in the heat, but also the cool.  The windows have persianas (metal blinds on the outside of the windows) that block the sun and the heat.  We have siesta.  It is light until really late at night so you can get outdoors when it finally begins to cool down.  And when all else fails, the malls and movie theaters are air conditioned!

We are perfecting cave living.  Watch the temperatures.  In the mornings, when the temperature outside is warmer than the temperatures inside (about 11 AM) close the windows, doors, persianas, curtains, ...   Keep that cool air in.  Run the fans in the rooms where you are.  In the evenings, when the temperature outside is finally warmer than the temperatures inside (about 11 PM) open the windows, doors, persianas, curtains, .... Run the fans all over the house to get that cool air inside.  It is dark and like a cave all day - but it is a lot cooler (house stays in low 80's when 100 outside).

We have learned how to have meals without using the oven.  I have learned to overcook so that I can "reuse" the same meat for other dishes to cut down on the time the stove is on.  We can completely close off the kitchen to keep the heat in there.

We have learned how to let me have hurricane force winds blowing on me at night and for Scott to only feel a gentle breeze.  We can sit on the floor in the basement and accomplish a lot of work since it is much cooler.  We can get up early in the morning because we know siesta is coming.

I have also learned that my attitude makes all the difference!  If I complain, it feels hotter.  If I count the hours until it starts to cool off my attitude deteriorates quickly.  If I post on Facebook how miserable I am, I feel twice as miserable, twice as grumpy, and twice as short with my family.

Encouragement goes a long way as well.  To hear from a Facebook friend, prayer partner, or family member that when they were hot they thought of us and prayed for a breeze to pass our way makes the air feel cooler.  To have someone with air condition say that they can not imagine what it would be like to not have air and are proud of us for sticking it out makes September not seem to far away (the heat will break around mid-September). 

This "attitude examination" has made me wonder about other areas in my life as well.   Wonder how often my attitude is more of the problem than the circumstance?  Wonder how often I could have spoke words of encouragement into someone who was doing their best to maintain a good attitude? 

Am I glad it is hot here?  Uh, no!  I want to live somewhere it is 75 degrees year round.  However, in

comparison to others in the world who are suffering great than me, I am glad this is the suffering I must endure.  And for today, as the thermometer climbs it way back up near 100, I will enjoy cave life until I take Alex to drum lessons (uh, what was I thinking when I bought him a set of drums?) and then I will find some air condition to enjoy.  Wonder how long I can stand in the freezer section of the grocery store?