Quite the weather we鈥檝e been having lately, eh?聽
This winter has been quite a challenging one, especially after living in the Middle East for nearly a decade. This past summer was a breeze for me, though.聽
The end of July was when I moved back to 麻豆社国产and temperatures were officially around 30 degrees, but according to many residents here it felt a lot hotter than that, and some even found it unbearable. It was paradise for me as it was 54 degrees when I left Oman so I actually appreciated temperatures in the 30s.聽
If you have never experienced temperatures in that range, well, imagine every time you walk outside it鈥檚 like you walk right into a sauna cranked all the way up. Your lungs fill with warm air and it leaves you out of breath for a couple seconds while you feel every pore on your body open up and sweat starts pouring out in minutes. If you wear glasses or even contacts lenses, they steam up and then you鈥檙e fumbling about to get into your vehicle quickly to crank up the AC for a sense of relief 鈥� and it鈥檚 even hotter in there.聽
You pretty much spend the summer shuttling from your air-conditioned car to your air-conditioned office, or to one of the colossal air conditioned malls, only to go back to your air-conditioned house.聽
Last summer was just brutal overall in the Middle East. Several countries had to declare mandatory 鈥渉eat holidays,鈥� so, yes, the summer here was a breeze compared to what I have been used to鈥� then fall and winter came along.聽
At first, the rain was a pleasant change, until it didn鈥檛 stop for nearly a month. My kids who are so used to wearing T-shirts and sandals refused to put on rain boots and jackets and then complained profusely that they are wet and cold. Then the snow came along 鈥� and surprisingly it鈥檚 still here 鈥� with those crazy arctic outflows (this wasn鈥檛 part of our weather lexicon years ago). The kids are still underdressed and complain more bitterly that they are even more cold鈥� and I鈥檒l admit, me too.聽
When I first moved to 麻豆社国产in 1998, temperatures in winter rarely dropped down to -10 degrees, it snowed for a few weeks and then disappeared with loads of rain, and then the thermostat usually hovered a few degrees above freezing right into spring. That is not what has been happening lately. Whether you believe that climate change is caused by us or not, the weather patterns are definitely changing here and on the other side of the planet.
Even this year we can once again expect our summer to be warmer than usual, cooler and rainier in the fall, and winter will be colder than normal with more precipitation and snowfall 鈥� it鈥檚 becoming the new normal. This upcoming summer, though, I鈥檒l probably complain about the heat but hopefully the kids will get used to dressing up properly by winter.聽
