Dog days

I make a mental note to myself often, not to include weather complaints in these posts. I mean, you can always talk about the weather, usually in whining tones. And really. What does that accomplish? Sometimes, however, exceptions need to be made. This late summer heat wave has really taken a toll. Tuesday's Farm Lane practice was brutal. Our men and women mostly got through it, but it was not easy as the "real feel" soared to 100 degrees (the actual high for the day was 97, breaking the previous day's record by 5 degrees!). We loaded up two coolers of Gatorade and two coolers of water, one stationed in a van on each end of the trail. Still, it was hot, and still our runners suffered out there.

This morning, our women's XC team smartly met at 6:30 a.m. for their run, thereby avoiding the heat of the day. Of course, 6:30 a.m. is Prime Time for me, so I was in an upbeat mood when I met the generally upbeat ladies to send them out the door. The poor freshmen, though! The dorms have no air conditioning and the conditions are extreme in the Sweat Boxes known as Champagnat Hall, Leo Hall and Sheahan Hall. Much like big cities during heat waves, Marist offered their version of "cooling stations" -- common areas such as the dining hall, library, student center, etc. -- where weary and sweaty freshmen could literally chill out. So the choices were not appealing: Sleep in your dorm room, in a puddle of sweat, or flop like a stranded airline passenger in a cooler common area on campus. Fortunately for the freshmen and for us all, the heat will break with a vengeance on Thursday as storms are forecast to roll in and bring September back where mid-July and August "dog days" weather has been.

The "dog days" just concluded at our house, where we "dog sat" for my friend Artie and family's big, slobbering and loving chocolate Lab named Bella. Bella and our dog Sammie definitely bonded during this time, although Sammie's youthful exuberance was sometimes too much for Bella, whose usual day includes a lot of lying around, panting and sleeping. She's a 9-year-old old lady and she needs her rest; Sammie is still a restless, 14-month old girl.

So while it won't be long before I'll be complaining about the cold and the rain and the snow and the ice, the departure of these "dog days" will be a welcome relief.