Scorched Earth

Heat is one of those complicated words. It means so many different things depending on the context in which it is mentioned.

At the moment, I'm typing this in my bedroom, which is running at roughly 80 degrees. See, we can't actually afford propane for the central heat, so we use extremely powerful space heaters. They are very effective when it is cold outside. However, they are much more effective when it's been 70 degrees and humid outside all day. I prefer the temperature at about 65 degrees with an overcast sky. Needless to say, being in my room is like being locked in a sauna. I've turned the heater off and the fans on, but it's going to be about an hour before it cools in here.

So, heat. Obviously there is the context in which I am resenting it now. I, of course, love it when it's actually cold in my house. Heat is what keeps many of us alive in the winter (those of us who don't simply drink a bottle of brandy and give a gentlemanly harrumph). Yet in the summer, we resent it. We bloody well hate the heat in the summer,

Some places have a context for heat that I can't even comprehend. Deserts and such. I should probably stop complaining, but I am American after all. The heat in those places makes 80 degrees look like a joke. Heat isn't just a word for them, it's a way of life, a force to be reckoned with.

Then again, heat isn't always just about the temperature. In the right context, it means passion, love, lust, desire. That's a wonderful context for it. One of the most amazing sensations on the planet. Not the sexual part, although that's great too, but the rising temperature when you are attracted to someone in every conceivable way. That flame burning inside that cannot be ignored. It's incredibly powerful.

Of course, heat is also the name of several crappy colognes.

There's heat in physics, essentially one of the most important and complicated forces in the universe. It's incredible. Measurable change in our world, simply marked by the changing of temperature. Oh, to have been there when the laws of thermodynamics were made.

I've looked back at this entry and realize that the heat may have addled my brain. I have jumped around a ridiculous amount, and I apologize.

Ugh. Heat.