Long Season
It's now October 1st and the desert southwest US is in the midst of a late season resurgence heatwave. Daytime temperatures have been around 105° F for two weeks. It wouldn't be so bad except for the fact that the two weeks before were distinctly fall weather: highs in the 80-90s and lows in the 60s.
Talking with a friend in NYC, I remembered summers here have similarities with winter in the northeast― long, difficult seasons for the respective places. I experienced two winters in NYC. It’s enjoyable at first but outlasts its welcome and everyone wants it to be over by the end. And there is often a last kick in the face of a dreaded late season snow storm in NE― just like our heatwave now. Summer here usually begins a bit after the spring equinox and ends a bit after the fall equinox― April to October.
Having grown up here in the desert, my heat tolerance is higher than most. I delight in acclimating to doing work outdoors when it's 100+° F. There are all kinds of climate-specific techniques for hydration and cooling. As well as clothing that can protect me from sun, heat, and hostile desert plants and insects. Shorts and a tanktop will do for short periods, but you will begin to cook rather quickly.
A key difference between these long seasons is that for a big chunk of summer in the desert, the nighttime temperatures are bearable. So people often shift their schedules to take advantage. I'm writing this right now on the porch at 5:30AM before work.
Inevitably I grow tired of it and join everyone in running indoors around 9AM, when work allows, as the thermometer pushes past 95° F. I have heard that less heat tolerant people get seasonal affective disorder for the same reasons at folks in the north― spending all their time inside away from the sunlight. At this point in the season, I think I'd rather have a long winter, but that may just be my heat-addled brain doing some grass-is-greenering.