Hot

 These last couple of weeks, as EVERYONE is aware, have been hot.  Last week was our first really hot week of the summer, and it was brutal.  My crew was working outside, the whole time, and it was miserable.  Headaches and nausea and fatigue.  By the end of last week we were all completely worn out.  

This week is not ~quite~ as hot, but close, and we were doing better.  And it made me think of something from last year.  There was a job my previous company was doing in the attic of a 4 storey apartment building.  The attic spanned the entire structure with a gable roof and when the sun hit it the space got HOT.  I didn't work on the project, but I was friends with the superintendent and he told me many tales of the woes of trying to cool the space down so our people could work.  They tried fans, air conditioners, personal fans around necks, cooling towels, everything.  At first we were cycling workers through bi-weekly.  Everyone that came to my sites complained about how miserable that job was.

And then, they just...got it done. 

I asked a guy that came to my site after that job was finished how things had gone and he said:

"We just got used to the heat.  And then we worked until we got the job done."

So, I've been keeping that in mind as we deal with heat-exhaustion and drained energies and muddled brains.  Remembering that the human body is an amazing thing that can adapt to extreme adverse conditions if you just let it, is a relief.

That doesn't mean that I didn't buy UV-blocking sleeves, and handed out electrolyte tablets, and kept an eye on my guys for signs of grouchiness or confusion.  But I also didn't let this heat (which is becoming more and more the norm every year) let me get soft.

And then yesterday, my theory was proven right.  There are 2 empty lots next to the building we just finished, that are also owned by the company, and had become rather overgrown.  We had received a letter from the City saying we needed to take care of it.  So we spent the whole 9 hours outside, in the heat, mowing and weed-whacking.  Almost 5 acres in total and we finished about 75% of it.  It was hard work, and I beat my personal best for KMs and total steps in one day, and the temperature peaked at 35 degrees around 2pm.  

But we did the whole day, taking breaks as needed, and having freezies and ice-caps.  And didn't feel too terrible at the end of it, at least not nearly as terrible as last week.

I will think of this when we're doing a class that is particularly hard.  When our limits are being pushed and our bodies are crying out "WHY ARE YOU LETTING THEM DO THIS TO US?!?"

Because I know that pushing our limits does literally that: it pushes the limit out. It moves the threshold.  The more you do hard things, the more hard things you can do.

You just gotta have a little faith.

(Just a note: I HATED the fact that we had to destroy so much wild growth and spent the whole day ranting in my head about the subjective definition of what a "weed" was and how the purposeful planting of things should not be a measure of whether an area should be cleared or not.  I apologized to a lot of bees and butterflies and made quiet protest by leaving strategic clumps of wildflowers well enough alone.  I understand that the City wants to make sure that areas don't look unkempt, but I feel that the wanton destruction of LITERAL ACRES of native plants and insects and fauna habitats could have been handled in a much more productive way.  But I digress...)

Song of the day: Do It or Die by Die Mannequin

https://open.spotify.com/track/6ZH6kU5DRsddAmANITElki?si=d057b4489f234085