Heat

The thunderstorm from yesterday was replaced by the heat today. Temperature, heat index, humidity, blah, blah, blah. Heat is one of those things that just must be experienced to really get the feel for what it’s actually like outside.

The first three hours of the walk were actually pretty pleasant. Clouds left over from the evening put a gossamer drape between me and the sun rising in the east. A little breeze was blowing out of the south, and although it was muggy, the feel of the air wasn’t unpleasant.

Not to be denied his fun, the nuclear furnace approximately eight light-minutes away cranked up the fission reactions as it traced an arc in the sky from east to west. By mile nine, the clouds were all gone, and the sun beat down. I’m not going to say there wasn’t any shade because I was wearing the Jello cap, but that was about it.

I could feel the temperature start to rise on the concrete, and warm drafts of quickly heating air tickled my shins.

My brow beaded in perspiration, and my shirt became thoroughly soaked. I didn’t dare roll up my shirt sleeves. I’ve been keeping them down to avoid sunburn over the last several weeks, and my tan lines have faded as I’ve browned through the fabric. I’m concerned I might spontaneously combust with too much exposed skin.

Unlike the thunderstorm which was a relatively quick and acute experience, heat just grinds on you. Step after step….mile after mile the sun does its work. The heat and the sweat and the salt and the sun hone you. The concrete road is gleaming white, and the rest of the landscape starts to grey and then yellow. 

You reach for the bottle of Powerade which came out of the ice chest nice and chilly just an hour ago. If you’re lucky, it’s tepid with a few areas of relative cool. Most likely it’s lukewarm, but you drink it anyway. The salt collecting in the shoulder straps of your backpack has to come from somewhere.

The heat hones and you just grind it out. You think about taking off your glasses to wipe the sweat from your brow, but you know it will be back just a few minutes later. Instead you just trudge on. 

Tasseling Corn - Sac County, Iowa

The corn loves the heat. Heat makes the corn grow, and the engineered hybrids in wide use today have a known number of heat units required for a successful harvest. It’s usually between about two thousand and twenty five hundred heat units depending on the variety, and that translates into about ninety to one hundred and ten fairly warm days. 

The corn to my left was soaking up the bounty of the sun. Taller than most men, the stalks were beginning to tassel out giving the field a yellow tinge in a sea of dark green.

I stopped for a moment to take in the miles of corn revelling in the heat. Then I moved on. I’m glad something enjoys these hot midsummer days.