This blog post is part of a series that I began for telling our story. You can read the first post here.
One of the only bright spots in our mad-dash trip to Minnesota that summer was getting out of the Texas heat. I found the lower temperatures at the camp glorious compared to the 100+ degrees of Texas. ALL. DAY. LONG.
Growing up in the midwest, I was used to thunderstorms building with the heat and humidity, and then once the storm came through we were rewarded with blissful cool temperatures. Texas doesn’t do that. Instead, a Texas summer thunderstorm comes after a buildup of heat and humidity, and afterwards it’s even hotter and more humid! That first summer I kept wondering what we had gotten into. But we also were far too busy for me to figure out how much I hated the summer temps. Between him getting acclimated to our new congregation and me working and attempting to get our house unpacked and settled, my only observation came in the form of a desperate shopping trip for shorts.
When we moved south, I did not own a single pair of shorts. Not one! I could always handle the summer temps up north and preferred wearing jeans to shorts. Plus, as a tall girl, I found shorts to often be TOO short for my tastes.
So after a few weeks of that summer, I did some clothes shopping. Shorts, sleeveless tops, and sandals were on the list. Unfortunately, this also meant I was easier prey for the fire ants.
You see, the playground reserved for the older kids at our school had a bench for the teachers. And I learned the hard way that the bench tended to have one or two ant nests underneath.
Fire ants aren’t like regular ants. They don’t just look for food, or crawl around. Nope, they attack, but they are military-like in their attack. A few will crawl up your foot. Then a few more. None of them start biting until you have a bunch on your legs, and then suddenly they all seem to go for blood. And it hurts! One or two little bites wouldn’t be bothersome, but imagine if 200 mosquitoes bit at the same time.
Thankfully I am not quite as affected by the pain/irritation as some (my mom will have bites swell and get worse long before they get better), but it’s still pretty bad. I learned pretty quickly how to spot the nests and avoid them, even while sweating all day, every day. I was super thankful when I did the math and realized that my pregnancy would not last into the summer months on the other side. I’ve heard horror stories from women whose babies were born in July and August in the Houston area, where the last month of pregnancy was just hot and miserable.
I’m also super thankful that we live in Fort Worth now, because it’s not nearly as humid here. It does get hot, but I don’t feel miserable the second I step outside. Here, it takes a few minutes…
Next post coming tomorrow.
Blooming Joy! 