July 17 • Dye on Cloth • 10" x 8" • ©2010 Jennifer Libby FayI come from a family that begins most conversations and all correspondence with a weather report.
Dear Mom,
It has been very hot here in Fayetteville. The temperatures have exceeded 90 degrees everyday for more than a month. Yesterday, when I went to get my hair done and buy a birthday present for Alistair, the thermometer in the car said it was 106.
Like that. For a long time I thought it was a silly waste of time, who cares about the weather in a place you aren't?
My grandfather died just last year. He was 104. For the last 15 or so years of his life, after my grandmother died, we wrote each other letters. Mostly about the weather. I have come to love reading the record of the most basic truth of our days. It's soothing and safe. No opinion is necessary and until recently the weather wasn't controversial or divisive. It just was.
I admit that back in the first part of July I complained vigorously about the weather being SO hot. For awhile I couldn't think of anything else. Every. Single. Day. It. Was. Hot. I didn't know how to cope and I was miserable. Being from Northern California, I'm just not used to it. In San Francisco, if the temperature reaches 80 degrees, people take off four of their five layers and have a party in the streets.
July 18 • Dye on Cloth • 10" x 8" • ©2010 Jennifer Libby FayBut making art can transform misery into, at the very least, acceptance, and so these two pieces, July 17 and July 18, were made from the heat of those days. Now I find there is beauty in the heat, and also power, something I had not realized before. It requires strength to be outside for any period of time and a commitment to taking care of oneself. Drink lots of water, wear sun screen. There's no fooling around.
I am feeling better now and complaining less. But really, I think the man who invented air conditioning should be given a sainthood.
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Love it!!
ReplyDeleteAnd I totally understand, if you every get to visit Norway - the weather is the only thing they can talk about...the begin and end every single conversation with comments on the weather..
Personally, I prefer the 90++ degree weather over 6 months of winter, so whenever I feel like complaining about the hot weather I just remind myself of the loooong winters and short summers in Norway - That helps!
Great post, Jennifer! How frequently I also weather-talk with friends in far off places. It is a bit funny that everyone complains about the weather when there is nothing that we can do about it. We are having the coolest summer in 40 years so you are welcome to come home and chill!
ReplyDeleteThank you for the comments, they make my day no matter what the weather.
ReplyDeleteCamilla--Someday I will get to Norway! Thank you for reminding me that I prefer the heat to the cold as well. I will stop complaining now.
Hi Carol! It would be nice to trade places for a few days, fog sounds delicious about now. Ah well, I guess we all want what we can't have sometimes.