#11- Why Summer Sucks.

It's hot. I do not do well with hot. Being of primarily Northern European/Scandinavian descent, the sun and I do not get along well. I do not tan, ever. Ever. I tend to burn, painfully and agonizingly, and usually in the most embarrassing and inconvenient places. I am also more prone to heat exhaustion than most people will believe. But gee, you might say, I grew up in Virginia and I live in California. I should be used to it by now. Well, I would say, being used to it does not mean I have to like it.

Last summer I went to Oklahoma to visit a pair of dear friends of mine, and the first thing we did was go on a hike through the Wichita Mountains. One of these friends was, at the time, a drill sergeant in the army, so he takes going on a hike seriously. We had SPF 95 sunscreen (something I was eternally thankful for), bug spray, an extra backpack full of water and Gatorade, and camel packs-- large water bottles that one carries like a backpack with a straw one sucks the water through. Smart, right? Well, we liked to think we were being smart, and we were. Here's what went wrong. We left around three in the afternoon, which meant we were out at the hottest point in the day (usually from three to five pm). In Oklahoma, believe it or not, it can get pretty damn hot during the summer; I think we were hiking though 100 degree weather, at least. Add a healthy dose of humidity on top, which made it hard to breathe, and you can imagine how hard it was.

Regardless, it was a good healthy walk, and despite a lot of the area being scorched from a recent fire it was still pretty country. We got up high enough to get a marvelous view, talked a lot, joked around, and had a good time.

And then I realized I was severely dehydrated and hadn't been drinking nearly as much as I should have. I was afraid I was going to drink too much and get stomach cramps, but then I unwittingly went to the other extreme and barely drank a drop.

This was before I took the EMT course, so I didn't know the signs for heatstroke, but now that I look back on it I'm fairly certain that while I wasn't quite there yet, I was well on my way. The good sergeant had me sit down and gulp water and Gatorade as much as I could for a while, but it wasn't getting much better. Plus it was starting to get dark, so we had to huff it back since we didn't have a flashlight. Not good for me. Thankfully, we stopped more frequently for water breaks and I was able to rehydrate relatively well, and we managed to make it back to the car before I passed out. To my credit though, I walked over four miles over mountainous terrain in God-awful heat that nearly killed me and-- I have witnesses who will testify for me-- I did not whine once. I used to whine if I had to walk to the store. I'm so proud of myself.

However, I feel like those mountains issued me a challenge. One of these days I'm going back to that trail, and now that I know what not to do, I'm going to win.

In the meantime, have fun hanging out in the sun, everyone! If you need me I'll be inside with the air conditioning, getting paler and paler by the day.

Warm Regards,

Liz.