The month of July is an exciting time for me, at least the first half of it is.

The Fourth of July with all its glitz happens and then I have a birthday and my wife and I celebrate our anniversary. All that happens before the tenth day of the month. It’s all down hill after that.

In the South it’s hotter than … well it’s just hot. I can hardly walk outside without taking my glasses off because they have fogged over. The bugs are louder than at any other time and they hover, zoom and buzz close by. Ah the joys of Mississippi summers.

I often wonder how anything ever got done before the invention of air conditioning. In many Latin American countries they take an extended lunch hour during the hottest part of the day. I think maybe the Old South used to do the same.

When I first immigrated to Mississippi 20 years ago, I was told that ‘You get used to the heat.’ I have found that statement to be a lie, yet tinged with a little truth.

You do get used to the heat, at least you learn how to deal with it and it’s not the heat, it’s the humidity. You know what, it’s not that bad either, at least in these modern times in which we live.

I usually don’t work outside in the heat and spend a lot of time dashing from air-conditioned buildings, to air-conditioned cars and back to another air-conditioned building. We sure have it good.

My family and my wife’s think that Mississippi is some place with stifling heat and humidity and that everything and everybody move a lot slower.

I’ve found that to be true for a couple of reasons. It’s hot and why be in such a hurry when you don’t have to be.

I like the slower pace of life and I miss the sound of those bugs when I’m gone. It’s weird for it to be dark and not hear any crickets or critters. That’s the sounds that lull me to sleep, as long as I’m in the air-conditioning.