It gets hot in Kentucky.  Don’t be fooled by all that nonsense about the cool bluegrass fields where horses run and children play.  Forget Jesse Stuart’s picturesque portrayal of the breezes that flow through the mountain Laurel or the water that cascades down the hills in the east.  Kentucky is hot in the summer – dang hot!  It is a place where you sweat opening the door to pick up the morning paper.  Humid?  How about 90%!  Yes – Kentucky is a hot place in the summer.

But I cannot remember it ever being 111 degrees there.  That is the projected temperature this weekend here in Kingman Arizona.  ONE HUNDRED AND ELEVEN.  Lisa and I are about to experience those temperatures for the first time during this summer stay in western Arizona.  Many have told us about the heat but always use the term – “dry heat”.  Not sure what that means other than it is lower humidity than one may experience in Kentucky or the south.  But come on – 111 degrees?  I think I will cook our eggs on a rock to save on our propane.  Forget the hot water heater – water will be practically boiling in the tanks without any help.

Lisa and I just do not know how we will react to those temperatures.  Furthermore we are not sure how to talk about the heat with the locals.  Do we go up and say something about how hot it is?  That seems stupid to even say.  It is like turning to a Sherpa on the way up Mt. Everest and asking, “Is it cold enough for you?”  I may try that line out with one of the Kingman residents here this weekend – just as an experiment.  “Hey, you with the leathery skin wearing the ‘Arizona State University’ baseball cap!  Is it hot enough for you?”  What will be their response?  “Nope – I don’t take off my jacket until it hits 130.  It got down to 96 yesterday and we turned on the furnace.”

So Lisa and I are about to experience Arizona summer temperatures that everyone warned us about.  If the keys on my laptop have not melted I will do my best to describe 111 degrees to those who, like us, have never experienced those temperatures.  Maybe by doing that people back home in humid Kentucky will find themselves feeling a little cooler after all.

But come to think about it – before this summer is over we may look back and long for those cool days when the temperature was just 111.

Keep Cool!

Steve and Lisa