Dog Days...

My brother is on a much-needed vacation this week, so I will be attempting to fill the void left by his absence from this blog. He's relaxing "up north", and, I hope, enjoying the heat with a cold beer as his company.

Yes, these are indeed "dog days"; when the air is heavy with the promise of thunderstorms that never seem to come. When going outside feels like walking into a sauna. When the slightest exertion leaves your body drained, sweaty, and panting.

As a kid, and a teen, I used to love days like this. Run around endlessly, stopping occasionally to gulp down a half-gallon of cold water, then badk out in the sun. Now, my greater experience (read: age) tells me that on days like this, it is important to rest somewhere cool, drink plenty of fluids, and call lifting a glass of liquid refreshment "exercise".

I miss those carefree days when nothing was serious enough to cause whatever plans we had to be put off until a "better" day. Snow, sub-zero temperatures, thunderstorms, wind, extreme heat--those were just things that had to be allowed for, and not allowed to slow us down in the least. Now, I find myself all too willing to take a long moment to relax; nothing seems quite urgent enough to venture forth in extremes of weather. Any plans that could be made for today can probably be made for tomorrow--or the day after--or next week.

It's an interesting change of perspective that most of us go through; things that should be important, like enjoying our lives, get put on the back burner in favor of "must-do" things, mostly work-related.

We only get one chance at this life. Attempting to enjoy it might be wise, eh?