Summertime

“Keep cooly cool boy, don’t get hot.”Ice ~ West Side Story

Although spring is still a few hours away, summer has, seemingly come to Georgia today. The sun is out, trees and grass have turned green almost overnight, and it’s warm enough for people to be walking outside in shorts and t-shirts. After several days of rain, snow, and enough frost to kill half the plants in our yard, I really like to think that we are now headed for six months of sunshine.

However, as I wrote in an earlier blog, nothing is an unpredictable as Georgia weather in wintertime, and really, that applies to the spring too. We’re not really assured of warm, sunny days until about mid-April. By then you know that summer has set in, and is here to stay at least until September. Or October for those of you who have not yet grown accustomed to the Georgia heat.

Walking across campus just now, and almost withering in my slacks, long-sleeved shirt and boots, I did realize that I will be facing an interesting, weather-related dilemma this summer. You see, in order to alleviate the boredom that comes with three months of not having to go to work, and because apparently I truly am a glutton for punishment, I decided to teach summer school this year. Summer school means, as implied by the phrase, that I will be teaching all of May and June. And therein lies the problem. In Georgia, May and June, although not as bad as August, are unbearably hot. Hot as in you will definitely want to keep your windows and blinds closed during the day, complete any outdoor physical exercise before 8am, and make sure your airconditioning is in top shape. Yet my work likes me to dress “appropriately”. In 1950s Georgia, that means pantyhose, a shirt with sleeves and a collar, no sandals, and a strict, may-a –bolt-of-lightning-come-down-and-strike-you, rule against wearing shorts. Now I don’t know about you, but when I’m hot, I like to wear sleeveless shirts, a short skirt, or shorts, and flip flops. Apparently, that’s grounds to call me a liberal and disrespectful hippie, but there you have it.

So what’s an overheated professor to do? I can guarantee you that if I do stick to the dress code, the results are not going to be pretty. I know there are some people who can be really warm and not show it, unfortunately, I am not one of them. For decency’s sake, I’ll lay off all the details, but suffice to say that husband-dear has told me, on more than one occasion that I “sure am stinky for such a little person”. Trust me, I don’t like it either. And pantyhose? In the summer? Really? I truly don’t see any of that happening. So I suppose I could bank on the fact that all the bigwigs will be gone enjoying their paid leave. As long as I steer clear of mini-skirts and cropped tops, I think that the majority of the people left will be too polite and embarrassed to tell me I need to put on hose or a shirt with a collar. After all, that would imply that they have been, gasp, looking at my clothes, or, oh my word, me, and we all know how incredibly inappropriate and impolite that is. So I’m thinking something semi-decent and cool will keep me, as well as people working in my immediate vicinity very happy. In fact, I’ve just realized that this is the perfect excuse for me to go shopping for some new breezy summer dresses. Decent, cute, and cool, what more could a girl want?