Welcome to August and the heat and humidity that takes your breath away! The extremes of summer and winter don't agree with me anymore -- I'll take spring and fall all year long.

When I was a child, we didn't have air conditioning for a long time and I don't remember the heat and humidity being this bad -- although I'm sure it was, we just weren't acclimatized to cooled air back then.

A box fan placed in front of the screened front door was the coolest place to sleep. The hard floor didn't even matter as long as a light cool breeze could be felt.

Today, I work in an air conditioned office, drive an air conditioned car, shop in air conditioned stores and live in an air conditioned house. And, the heat outside is intolerable if I have to spend too much time in it.

If a disaster struck and we were to lose the electricity we have grown so use to, would we survive or would our bodies simply melt? I know for a fact I would suffer through some splitting headaches while my body acclimatized itself to the heat.

The forecast for this week is the hottest yet, but I suppose we'll struggle through in our climate-controlled world. Soon, we can change our tune and complain about how cold it is. We really are spoiled.