Just a couple of quick observations for the day....

I--we--are learning a couple of things about Charleston in the summer, and I guess the South in general, but DEFINITELY Charleston. This is not an exhaustive list by any stretch of the imagination, but they're on my mind.

1) Yes, it really IS that hot. And humid.
2) Yes, it really DOES rain that much.

This morning, at approximately 7:15 AM, I was waiting with the kids for them to take their school bus for the first time (which never came, but that's a story for another day). Just by standing there for less than 10 minutes, I developed the need to change shirts immediately when I got home. Granted, I am mildly prone to hyper-persperation, but still...

On the other hand, I was told by more than one person (to which I have taken heed) that I need to carry a reliable compact umbrella at all times, and Mother Nature has seen fit to reinforce such sage advice. Earlier this week, either Monday or Tuesday, there was a downpour of quasi-Biblical proportions. My mother, who was still visiting and had plans to go the beach with the kids, was of grave concern because it meant she would be home all day with them with basically nothing to do except watch TV...but as it turns out, no such deluge was occurring near our house; a mere 10 miles away. They ended up spending more than three hours playing in the ocean. I, on the other hand, waited in line behind no less than nine people (part of a parent-student C of C campus tour) at CVS and finally bought one of only 4 umbrellas the store still had.

Blink, and you can get rained on. And an hour later, you would never know the difference, except that rain does absolutely NOTHING to cool things down. If anything, it makes the air thicker because the additional moisture has nowhere to go except to sit on your skin, almost as if you put on just a bit too much lotion.

And you know what? I am NOT complaining. Like I was saying during the past two or three summers in Chicago (including this year) when people would complain about how hot it was, "Hey, it ain't snowing."

~TL