The Midnight Sun

Yesterday was hands down the most disgustingly uncomfortable day of the entire year to date for me. Imagine feeling like a thanksgiving turkey in an oven sloooooowly roasting, basting in your own sweat for a good 7 hours. That pretty much sums it up. 100% humidity, rain, blazing heat. Sweat, sweat, sweat. Even my interpreter Miguel, who comes from an island and loves heat, was begging me to stop working for the day. When Miguel complains about heat, its pretty serious. There was a "heat advisory" and warnings to check on elderly people who live alone. The city opened cooling centers for people who do not own air conditioners. I used to be one of those people years ago but I have had an air conditioner for quite a while now and even if I only use it for 2 weeks a year, it is a necessity for me. Not having an air conditioner is like not having a toilet, it is that essential for me. The strange part is, in the winter I am always freezing. I have to sleep with a heating pad under my feet. My body just seems to have a sensitivity to extremes in temperature. That said, I will choose winter every time over summer if forced to choose.

I remember when I was a kid and there was no air conditioner in my bedroom. I would lay awake at night and continue to flip the pillow to the "cold" side. Everything seemed so high pitched. From the sound of the crickets and beetles scratching around outside my window to the buzz of the street lamp at the end of the block. If I really concentrate, I feel like I am right there again. I remember that feeling of waking up to a wet pillow and the hair at the nape of my neck damp from perspiration. I also remember the feeling of frustration and irritation at not being able to sleep throughout the night and praying for some relief for the next night.

When I got home yesterday, the first thing I did was strip, toss my clothes into the dirty pile and take a cold shower. The soap and water was a much needed elixir and did me wonders. I then collapsed onto my bed unclothed and reveled in the cool air from air conditioner gently wafting over me like a lovahs kisses, ahhhhhh! If I could be in a committed relationship with an appliance, it would be a toss up between my air conditioner and my heating pad, air conditioner edging out the heating pad at this time. Anyway, it didn't take long for me to fall into a deep sleep from the exhaustion of the day. As I slept I had the most vivid and amazingly realistic dream.

I want to preface telling you about the dream by mentioning something that my dream reminded me of. Did you ever watch the original Twilight Zone episodes? You know, the old black and white ones with Rod Serling himself doing the intro and narrating? This show is really one of my favorite shows of all time. It was ahead of it's time and even now when I watch it it still spooks me and gives me chills. It really makes me think and there is nothing out there on television at this time that does that for me. Come to think of it, there really never has been anything this thought provoking for me on television since this. One of my very favorite episodes is titled "The Midnight Sun". It originally aired on November 17th, 1961. The main characters are Norma, an artist, and her landlady Mrs. Bronson. The setting is New York City. The episode begins with Mrs Bronson mentioning what she has just heard on the radio and ending her comment with "and that's why we're, we're....." then the scene pans to Rod Serling and his famous opening monologue to set the stage for what we are about to see...


And I quote..."The word that Mrs. Bronson is unable to put into the hot, still, sodden air is doomed, because the people you've just seen have been handed a death sentence.
One month ago, the Earth suddenly changed its elliptical orbit and in doing so began to follow a path which gradually, moment by moment, day by day, took it closer to the sun. And all of man's little devices to stir up the air are now no longer luxuries - they happen to be pitiful and panicky keys to survival. The time is five minutes to twelve, midnight. There is no more darkness. The place is New York City and this is the eve of the end, because even at midnight it's high noon, the hottest day in history, and you're about to spend it in the Twilight Zone."

.......*DRAMATIC MUSIC*


So the crux of the episode is basically these two women keeping each other company as life as they have known it melts away. There is no more darkness, the sun is out all the time. They watch their water supply dwindle, food grows scarce, electricity is conserved and everyone around them is leaving town in droves to go north where it is cooler. At one point, a man breaks in and drinks their remaining water leaving them with nothing. Time progresses and it keeps getting hotter and hotter. Mrs. Bronson starts to crack mentally from the pressure of the heat and asks Norma to paint her a picture of something cool and calm with water. The temperature climbs up to 140 degrees and Mrs. Bronson collapses as the thermometer shatters and Norma's painting melts right off the canvas. Norma collapses as well.

The episode ends with showing the apartment at night. It is black outside the window and you can see ice crusted on the windows. Mrs Bronson and Norma are bundled up and there is a Dr there tending to Norma as she is confined to her bed. It turns out that she has a dangerously high fever and... ( here is that famous twilight zone twist!) she was only dreaming that the earth was moving closer to the sun. In reality it is moving AWAY from the sun and they are doomed to freezing to death in a matter of days. Norma wakes up and tells Mrs Bronson about her crazy dream and says "isn't it wonderful to have darkness and coolness"? To which Mrs Bronson replies with a sound of dread in her voice "yes my dear, it's.....wonderful ." The closing narration from Mr Serling goes as follows..."The poles of fear, the extremes of how the Earth might conceivably be doomed. Minor exercise in the care and feeding of a nightmare, respectfully submitted by all the thermometer-watchers in the Twilight Zone."

THE END! Fabulous epi, no? If you haven't watched it do try to, it is so powerful.

So I told you this because as I laid nude in front of my air conditioner in a deep slumber I had the most vivid dream that I was in a car with someone driving through a beautiful snowy landscape. It was almost fantasy-like. Everything was covered in a fluffy layer of snow and as we drove through it the snow swirled and sparkled around us and began to blow furiously. I felt an overwhelming sense of happiness and comfort. The buildings looked like gingerbread houses and even the car we were in seemed too perfect to be real. As the dream progressed, I felt myself getting colder by the minute. I held my arms together at my sides and tried to turn the heat on but is wasn't working. I became resigned to the fact that nature was having it's way and I tried to appreciate the cold which was rapidly going from a beautifully refreshing treat to an uncomfortably bitter chill. The ring of my phone brought me back to reality and I woke up to the cold around me and my skin feeling icy to the touch which was quite a shock from what I had been subjected to all day with the oppressive heat. I rushed to put clothing on and snuggled under the covers and fell back into a peaceful sleep.

Now, as I related this to you it really amazes me at how powerful our minds are and what they can conjure up as survival mechanisms in response to our environment around us and the stresses we are subjected to at times.

That's all for now :)