Blood, Sweat, and Tears (with much emphasis on the Sweat)

It is a scorcher of a day here in Ontario, Canada!  All this heat and humidity outside just makes you want to crank up the air conditioning and knock back some ice cold beer or cocktails.

(Or, in the case of myself who is more or less a teetotaler, chilled iced tea.)

I'm sure that most people in the world would list summer as one of their all time favourite seasons because of a variety of reasons.  When we were younger, summer meant two and a half months away from school.  It meant going to the beach.  It meant eating as much ice cream and popsicles as you desired.  And, it meant temperatures that were so warm that you could go outside in just a T-shirt and shorts if you so desired.

But I have to admit that summer is not a season that works for me.  In fact, whenever I take holidays from work, I very rarely take them during the summer months.  I'm more of a spring or fall kind of guy.  And, a lot of the reason why is because I'm not a fan of heat or humidity of any kind.

But it's not because of the fact that I can't take heat.  If anybody takes the proper precautions (wearing a hat, drinking lots of water, wearing light clothing, applying sunscreen), anyone can avoid sunburn, heat stroke, and other nasty ailments that can come from too much sun exposure.

I'll talk more about it in this diary entry.

July 2, 2014

Ah, summer.  When I was a kid, it was one of the greatest times in the whole year.  Not having to go to school for two and a half months?  As someone who hated the social politics of school, I welcomed that with open arms.  In fact, if I remember correctly, most of my summer afternoons were spent sitting on the back porch, drinking cold beverages, and reading comic books until the sun went down.  And if the weather was nice enough, I'd unhook the garden hose, turn it on full blast, and get completely soaked! 

And keep in mind that I grew up during a time period in which drinking water from a garden hose was considered to be a rite of passage and not a dangerous activity that could kill you.  I drank from the garden hose for nearly fourteen straight summers, and I'm still alive!

But of course, this was back when I was a kid.  Now that I'm an adult, there's really only one thing that prevents me from enjoying summer the way that most people do.

I'm extremely warm-blooded.

Now, in some cases, this can be a great thing.  In the winter, I never have to crank up the thermostat indoors because I'm always toasty warm.  But in the summer, this is a recipe for disaster because of one thing that I end up doing more than anyone else.

You've heard of the saying "blood, sweat, and tears"?  In my case, the word sweat should be bolded, italicized, underlined, and splashed with the brightest colour one could even imagine.

It'd look kind of like this, actually.

SWEAT!!!

That's also the main reason why I don't like summer.  I sweat.  I sweat a lot!

I sweat so much that on any given summer day, I have to change my shirt as much as twice - sometimes three times a day.  It's certainly making me spend more money at the laundromat between June and September, I'll tell you that much. 

And honestly I'm embarrassed by the fact that I do have a problem with perspiration.  I'm not talking about a few beads of sweat forming along my brow here...I'm talking about Niagara Falls type perspiration here!

As far back as I can remember, sweat has always been a nemesis of mine.  I was the kid who was forced to wear shirts underneath shirts because of sweat.  When I was in gym class, I was the kid who was so sweaty that I left behind puddles of it on the floor.  It was really embarrassing, and a really big part of why I did everything in my power to avoid gym class. 

I thought the reason why I perspired more than the average guy (seriously, all the other kids in my class barely broke a sweat - and yes, I was jealous of that fact) was due to my size.  I was always the heaviest kid in the class, and I had heard that the heavier you were, the more you broke out in a sweat.  But I still sweat even though I've lost weight since then.  

And, I mean, I suppose it's normal to sweat a lot in a gym class or anywhere where you do a lot of exercise.  But I break out in a sweat just going for a ten minute walk down the street.  By the time I get to my final destination, I look like I got caught in a rainstorm.

In case you haven't guessed, it's one of the things that I wish I could change about myself.  I wish I didn't sweat so much.  I wish I could have the freedom to go out and not have to worry about pit stains or having the back of my shirt stick to my back.  But I'm really not sure of how to fix it.

So, that's my confession for today.  I am a chronic sweater and I wish I could change it. 

Any suggestions for me?  (And, yes...I am being serious!)