The temperature’s rising
It was hard trying to lap up the ice cream before it dribbled down onto my hands, overcoming the little napkin often used to prevent such gooeyness happening in the first place. The temperature, still rising, was accented heavily with dust driven up from the windless gravel streets, making everything look old, greyish and very 1890ish.
Venturing out of town, hoping to get reprieve from the pore-clogging dust particles, the trees on the wayside of the trails looked the same, green-grey with no contrasts. Aahh, a slight breeze caught the wandering mosquito brave enough to fly the moisture-laden and hot air, trying to find someone too lazy to swat it away. But no luck, there’s no one near any bush or swampy terrain. Everyone’s at the beach!
Yay! Summer break is here and anyone with any sense at all is heading towards anything cold and wet, or cool and air-conditioned. Whatever the choice, it’s still damn hot not to do anything about it. I look down at my dusty feet and wonder how they kept cool back in the Victorian days, when skin was oh so unfashionable and swimming in anything weighing less than 20 pounds was considered risqué. I looked down at my exposed brazen toes and remember again about the risks involved in exposing any skin during the summer months. Yes, a brave man could get his blood sucked dry by mosquitoes, at least after going crazy.
One summer in the early 1970s, the temperature drove the mosquitoes into a frenzied blood bath, driving nearly 6000 unknowing construction workers insane with the constant drones, swatting and getting doused with near-lethal amounts of DDT, which in turn, added more dementia to their madness in battling nature. We Cree, in turn, having been doused with natural insect repellants while still young, remained sane and continued working on the gigantic La Grande hydro-electric project.
Today, modern science and techniques have made eliminating the pesky mosquito and voracious black fly (when combined can cause immediate blood loss) a major part of the development of the north. Crees using these new technologies are preventing the growth of these flying vermin from ever happening (until the next year) and happily creating a workable environment as a result. Wow, say goodbye to Deet and say hello to sanity.
Holding back my ice-cream-frozen brain thoughts, I return to the quiet drone of the air conditioner, another invention I am sure was thought up by the Inuit, who have unbearably low tolerance to any temperature above zero degrees. Even the tepid few raindrops that slowly fall to earth before evaporating on the parched grounds leave little for our sweltering bodies to cool off on. All this creating a steaming effect and increasing the moisture content in the very air that we depend on – making it an extreme effort just to breathe regularly.
One good omen, the temperature’s rising everywhere and even the fuses that keep good relationships intact are getting shorter and shorter. One day this summer, I swear, I will convert to old man grumpiness on a permanent basis. Someone give me a hose down – quick.