It is a miracle that I haven’t melted by now, or witnessed someone melt. Truth be told, this unrelenting heat has done a number on us. I live in a generally cold area, such that sometimes, even during the hot season, you may need to keep a sweater on while indoors.
Now, however, all our sweaters are in the furthest corner of the wardrobe, and not even keeping the windows open is helping because the air outside is as still as a statue.
Sleeping at night is especially troublesome to the point of impossibility due to the heat trapped inside. And if you happen to take a matatu to work, by the time you get to the main road, the dust will have come up to your knees.
From what I have observed, this is the time to give make-up a wide berth because this heat will surely melt it away, leaving you looking like a clown.
This is the time for us women to embrace our natural looks, by force, meaning that the weaves will also have to take a back seat, otherwise, the heat they trap in our scalps might just fry the contents in our heads.
Cooling the body temperature
Also, though we love our boots, it would be suicidal to wear them now, therefore it only makes sense to store them away until the sun packs up, whenever that will be.
Speaking of behaviour that is appropriate for the weather, I have always heard it said that drinking tea or any other hot beverage during especially hot weather helps to cool the body temperature. I generally lean towards skepticism, and have always given this argument a side-eye.
Well, the other day, keen to try anything and everything to cool off, I went to a restaurant and ordered a cup of coffee with my meal. Let me tell you, it was the most misinformed decision I have ever made.
By the time I was into my third sip, I was sweating like a pig, never mind that I learned the other day that pigs can’t sweat because they lack functional sweat glands…
I have no idea who came up with this theory that taking hot fluids cools the body down, but on that day, I proved them wrong.
What we should or shouldn’t do on a hot day aside, I was contemplating how hot and humid it has suddenly become, yet just a few weeks ago, we were grappling with unrelenting rainfall, smack in the middle of January.
It then occurred to me that just like the weather, most of the time, situations come and go, that there is no circumstance that is permanent, and that almost everything has a sell-by date.
This was triggered by ongoing conversations with friends, colleagues, relatives and acquaintances regarding how difficult life has become in the past year. The cost of everything, especially food and fuel, has gone up, yet, due to the state of the economy, employers are not giving raises, if anything, many companies are laying off staff.
Need I mention the additional tax burden many Kenyans, especially the employed, have to shoulder? There’s lots of apprehension all around, heightened stress levels, depression, strained relationships and deviant behaviour, as the increasing stories of wanton killings among couples will tell you, as well as senseless murders and incidences of adults turning on children they should be protecting.
If it is a fact of nature that nothing is permanent, even the bad stuff, then I, and no doubt many others, are praying that this season will come to an end, sooner, rather than later.
