Funny how extremes have so much in common. This morning my weather app said it felt like 3 degrees out. The sun was muffled behind smooth gray sky. The air sparkled with cold.
After walking half a block I could feel a slight burn on my cheeks. I imagined them looking like frozen raspberry popsicles. A block later my thick layer of Chapstick was a stiff layer on my lips. Any moisture became ice. Bundled and layered, I walked on, prepared for the cold.
When my young dog turned and looked at me, I took my glove off and I plucked a dog treat from a bag in my pocket, reinforcing her good behavior. As I put my glove back on, my hand burned from the cold. I knew it is time to get the dogs home.
When the summer heat is upon us, I wake early so my dogs can get their walk in without suffering. The sun hazily muffled; the air shimmering. Hot.
In minimal clothes, I feel my cheeks burn from the heat, a red that spreads down my neck. Any sweat drying as we go. My lips salty when I lick them. We walk on, my dogs and I, their tongues long and pink. My old dog eyes me when we reach a corner. She has had enough and we turn for home.
“It’s too cold to go outside!” or, “It’s too hot!”
In life there is always going to be “too much this, “or “too much that.” Staying away is a sure way to miss out, so with any extreme it is best to use, balm, chapstick, and a healthy dose of common sense.
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