Shake and Bake

October 1, 2019 (Tuesday)

This blog was written on a very hot day.

I have heard many remarks lately about how hot it is. It’s hard for me to complain about hot weather because I dislike cold weather so much. If I had only two choices for weather, I would choose hot rather than cold. Of course, “cool” is OK. Spring is nice, and so is fall, at least the parts that feature moderate weather. But winter is nice only if it’s one of those Decembers or Januaries when we have “Indian Summer,” with perfectly beautiful weather day after day. It happens sometimes.

I remember the winter of 1953-1954. I had been to seminary classes in the morning and in the afternoon I was at work at Vandervoort’s ice cream factory. For some reason I left the building and saw a newspaper rack on the street corner, displaying the front page of the Fort Worth Star Telegram. The headline announced a blizzard on the way. It was a beautiful, fairly warm, sunny day as I read the headline, but I had not been aware of a “Norther” on the way. By that time it was in the western edges of the city. By the time I got off work a north wind was strong and snow flurries filled the air. It was a blizzard, bringing freezing temperatures and winter conditions. Needless to say, I was disappointed in the cold, cold weather.

They say we have a thermostat in our head. It automatically keeps our bodies at the right temperature. There must be something wrong with my glandular regulator, because I get cold easily, and when that happens, I am perfectly miserable. Listen to this joke: “Humpty Dumpty had a great fall, and a very nice winter and spring, too.” Well, my name’s not Humpty, and winter rarely seems “nice.” I still remember with pain that day in Houston in January of 1949 when the temperature dropped to 7 degrees and everything was covered with snow and ice. Unusual and unpleasant for me. I put on several layers of clothing and waited for the bus to take me to school. The bus was late, and my feet were freezing, so I went back home. The white stuff was pretty, but I was not.

O.K. so it’s hot. And you are miserable. So am I, I guess, but the A/C is working inside, and that’s where I am. It’s just cool enough right now, unless someone messes with the thermostat. I’m undergoing treatments with an injection every six months that produces hot flashes now and then. So, my condition is “Shake and Bake.” When it’s cold, I shiver and shake, or my name’s not “Fake.” (<– rhymes)

Today’s president is
Thomas Jefferson – The 3rd President