Lianhua.nu

New Heat

I realized yesterday that our vacation is coming up so soon that I can start to see the weather forecasts for while we’re there!
So today I decided to check out the forecast for the first full day that we’re there (Sunday, August 9).

And I immediately wanted to close the browser window.

69-79% humidity?!

Can I really do this?

For comparison, this is what I’ve been living in for the past two summers:

Sure, the temperature is pretty much the same, but the humidity, at times, is half that of what it’s going to be in Florida. And it’s really the humidity that contributes to how hot it really feels.

For example, on Sanibel right now it’s 84ºF and cloudy, but it feels like 96ºF because the humidity is 81%. Here in Glendale, it’s 92ºF and sunny, and because the humidity is only 40% it feels like 93ºF.

Derek doesn’t seem too worried about it, but I’m actually kind of nervous. I’ve become pretty sensitive to heat, and when I start to feel too warm I tend to get sick to my stomach. At the worst, I’ve even passed out because of it (I took a hot shower on a really hot day, when Derek and I were still living in his un-air-conditioned studio, and ended up blacking out). Usually I’m okay here in our apartment because it’s magical and never gets very warm (it’s only about 78ºF in our living room right now). But am I going to be okay in a place where the humidity is constantly driving up the temperature?

ten little things: 001.

Inspired by Katy’s 10 Things on a Tuesday and Grace in Small Things (which I discovered via Alicia of traverser.nu), I bring you Ten Little Things that make me happy this week.

1. Having a Panera Bread within walking distance of work (it opened a couple of weeks ago).
2. Delicious salads with fresh fruit and berries.
3. 25¢ bus fare in Glendale
4. Feeling cute and slightly stylish with my new haircut
5. Flexible hours at work
6. Seeing the day we leave for our vacation pop up in the 10-day weather forecast
7. Coming home to a mostly-clean apartment
8. Having a washer and dryer in our apartment (that doesn’t require quarters! more bus fare for me!)
9. Being able to tell the psychiatrist that everything feels a lot better
10. Reminiscing about when Derek and I first started dating, and realizing how adorable he was is

What’s made you happy so far this week?

When You Were Young

Nearly every year since I was four months old, my family has made a yearly pilgrimage to beautiful Sanibel Island, Florida. In fact, I can count on one hand the number of years I didn’t find myself lounging on its shell-filled, sun-lit beaches: the year my sister was born (my mom was in her 8th month of her pregnancy), the year we went to Vegas instead (we all admit this was a pretty big mistake) and last year (I couldn’t afford it and had just started my job). Out of the 24 summers I’ve been alive, I’ve been to Sanibel 21 of them.

My mom says that, after the first couple times you go to Sanibel — maybe even sooner — it starts to call you. And I believe her. Last year, my heart ached to be on that beach again, listening to the waves lapping at the shore and feeling the soft breeze on my skin. Every year, toward the end of July or beginning of August, we all feel it again. Our entire beings long to be there, together with the people who love us unconditionally.

But Sanibel is changing.

Each year, we see some little changes. A restaurant that has been on the island since the 70s is closed. They’ve raised the prices. They built a new bridge. A hurricane wiped out most of the vegetation on the island. Wow, there are a lot more people here than last year… Many of the changes don’t make us very happy, but we keep going. It’s our island. My grandparents have been going there since the 70s. And when we look hard enough, the things we love are still there.

The lighthouse still shines out into the ocean, guiding the ships into Fort Myers. The cormorants still circle overhead — and they still creep me out a little; I used to call them “bat birds” and get hysterical when I saw them. The seashells still wash up on the shore. And the sunsets are still as beautiful as ever.

And the island’s not the only thing that is changing.

This year, my brother won’t be coming to Sanibel, because his wife is due with their baby just a month later. One of my uncles and his two daughters won’t be there either, but the other is bringing his wife and their one-year-old little girl. Derek is coming for the first time, as is my sister’s fiancé.

And my sister and I have changed quite a bit, too. I mean, just the fact that she has a fiancé and that I live in California with my long-term boyfriend is a world of difference. And we look different, we act different, we like different things… We’re hardly those two girls anymore.

Although I think I’ve grown into my skin a little more, and I’d like to think that I’m not quite as goofy as I was in the photo above, deep down I know there’s still a part of me that, like Sanibel, hasn’t changed too much.

I’m coming, Sanibel. Please still be my island when I get there.