Lexical Gap No. 31: Forplaint
August 2022 monthly summary
Growing up in Southern California, August always heralded the hottest time of the year. It’s troubling that in my (relatively) short lifetime, I can recall a time when the weather was drastically different, but when I was a child, it was rare to see days hotter than 90, even in the midst of summer. It was only during the month of August we would have the grossest days of the year, and by “grossest,” we always meant “humid.”
I’ve been living on the East Coast for half my life now, and I still haven’t gotten used to the summer humidity. When I first moved to New York for college, all my California relatives gifted me winter coats as graduation presents because snow and cold, but nothing could have prepared me for how thick and suffocating summer humidity can get. Because I have puppies, I’m outside far more now to run off their energy and let me tell you, summer is hands-down the most disgusting time of year. Everything is just moist. The air. The ground. Your skin.…