into the glare

Spring in Doha is bringing out the worst in me, and I mostly blame the heat. It's so hot here these days that I wish there were another word for it that conveys more about the flesh-searing, sweat-soaking oppression of it all. Air conditioning is our life support again. An open door can heat a house in seconds. Forget the sunshade on the windshield and your steering wheel will raise blisters on your fingertips. 

Last week the temperatures rose to 100ºF and higher every day and I vowed that it wouldn't keep me inside. "Take that, deadly weather!" I thought as I found a hat to wear, bought a spray bottle, filled my backpack with water bottles, and set out into the glare. I've written here and here about how it's walking that keeps me feeling human in the ways I want to be human- finding beauty, both accidental and by design, and staying aware of and connected to the cycles of people and plants and animals around me. Covering ground by driving, as I've written here, makes me feel human in all the worst ways: furious and terrified.

I took four great, if sweaty, walks and felt triumphant. I started this post and included some friendly suggestions about how to survive a walk in the extreme heat, and how very rewarding it is to be outside regardless of weather.

And then yesterday I had 90 minutes to kill before an art class. It was 7:40am when I set out, only 95ºF. I headed south along a route I'd walked before but kept coming across new alleys I could not resist. By the time I decided to start looping back, an hour later, it was over 100º. I bought water and a spray bottle at a store and kept on hustling back to my art class where I collapsed in the air conditioning. Really unpleasant symptoms of heat exhaustion set in as the class went on and I spent the rest of the day just wrecked. I had taken little of my own advice above- no water, no spray bottle, no hat, few places to stop to buy refreshments and cool off, and most of the taps on the outsides of mansion walls had run dry. The sun humbled me and I'm grateful it wasn't worse. Starting tonight, my walks will take place after dark.

Here are some photos from what may be my final daytime walk until fall. You'll notice that there are no humans in them, as most sensible people were not out.

one of the alleys that led me astray, so shady and inviting