Sorry, I haven’t been around for the past few weeks. I have a history of chronic migraines, and I’ve spent most of the last five weeks in a cool, dark room trying not to make the pain worse.
Thankfully, my doctor was able to break the migraine last week, and I’m finally feeling better. Maybe one of these days we’ll talk about migraines and why they’re so much more than “just a headache.”
But uuuggghhh…my brain is constipated…it feels so full.
I haven’t written in over a month, so I’m just going to let things flow and see where we wind up.
Hopefully, writing will provide a bit of umm… mental relief, and we can get things moving again.
After writing several days a week for nine months, not writing for so long feels so strange. I know I only post once a week now, but each post takes two to three days of writing, reviewing it with my editor, and adding the final polishes.
So here I am, feeling better, but still not great. Fingers crossed the headaches continue to improve.
I know you’ve all missed me, so—I’m back! I can already hear my sister saying, “Great. Lucky us.”
And now I’m sitting here staring at a blank screen.
Inch after inch of glowing white, silently taunting me.
“Look at you. A solid block of time to write…and nothing to say.”
It’s not that I have nothing to say. It’s that my thoughts are all jumbled together.
They’re not neatly lined up, patiently waiting their turn.
Who am I kidding?
My thoughts have never been neat and orderly.
In fact, if they ever were, it would probably scare the hell out of me. I’d immediately assume something was seriously wrong.
My thoughts are a bit like trying to line up squirrels. They’re running in every direction without any real purpose.
So hold on, we might be heading down a rabbit hole or 10.
So what is up with this crazy weather? I’ve been watching these crazy summer temps from my little spot of “tropical” Massachusetts. It’s been ridiculously hot and humid on and off for the past few weeks. So. Very. Gross.
It’s hot and humid again today, but we have the added joy of haze and poor air quality from wildfire smoke drifting in from Canada and Minnesota.
We’re kinda sorta but not really used to weather like that here in New England. In winter, we complain about the cold and wish for summer temps. In summer, we complain and do the opposite. It’s like we forget how hot or cold it gets here in New England. Parts of Europe, however, don’t normally experience this kind of heat.
The hot temperatures in Europe remind me of last summer, when my sister Kris and I were in Paris. It was ridiculously hot…and this summer, they’re encountering temperatures even hotter than that.
Paris is a fantastic city to visit. I really enjoyed it, and I’d go back in a minute…just not in the summer.
It was SO hot. SO. SO. hot.
I Googled the average expected temperatures before we left. And Google’s very unhelpful answer?
45–99.
Forty-five to ninety-nine degrees?
Seriously?
Here in New England, we call that weather.
But I digress.
We had a wonderful time in Paris, but there were a few things that we found very different from summers here in the US.
In France, drinks are often served chilled, but not over ice. We were headed out for the day after breakfast at a cute little cafe. When the server brought the check, I asked for a cup of ice. The waitress asked me a few times what I wanted in the cup with the ice and was very confused when I responded, “Nothing, just ice.”
I wanted the ice for our reusable water bottles…because, you know, it was hot…and here in the US, when we’re complaining about the heat, we like ice in our cold water.
This explanation didn’t seem to make the situation any less confusing to her, so she just brought me the ice. It was a weird and amusing interaction. Hopefully, she was amused by my American-ness.
It was easy to spot the tourists in Paris because they wore shorts, and many locals in Paris do not. Personally, I was happy wearing my shorts, but there was something I just didn’t understand. How did all the French people look so fresh and cool in their linen pants while I was a hot, sweaty mess in shorts? Whatever they do to stay looking so fresh, I’d love to know…although I probably can’t pull it off even with their best secrets.
One of the most noticeable differences we encountered between summer in Paris and summer here is AC. Historically, Paris has had fewer extremely hot summer days than we do here in New England. So between the shorter hot season and the numerous historical buildings, air conditioning is less common there.
Here, we expect every building to have AC, and we gripe when they do not. In Paris, you’re pleasantly surprised by AC. And you certainly don’t complain when you walk into a quaint shop and feel the cool breeze on your face.
The lack of AC, ice, and shorts certainly did not dampen our fun. Yes, it was VERY hot, but we were lucky—our traditional Parisian hotel did have AC! It was a tiny unit located just above the door.
The day we checked into our hotel, it was hot, and we had been traveling all day, so we rejoiced when we saw the AC unit. We cranked that baby up…but the laugh was on us. The AC unit created the tiniest breeze ever. I think the “breeze” a 2-year-old creates while blowing out birthday candles is stronger than that AC unit!
We laughed so hard about that AC unit while we were in Paris. Every time we headed back to our room, one of us would comment about how excited we were to get back to the AC. And we’d laugh.
The unit was ridiculous, but I have to give the hotel credit. They certainly tried. And honestly, that charming little AC unit somehow felt perfectly Parisian. It added to the experience.
Since our hotel AC was no match for the heat, we opened the windows and enjoyed the breeze and the sounds of the city.
The AC seemed far less important after a cool shower and the nice breeze coming through the open windows.
The windows were straight out of a scene from the movie Beauty and the Beast. We’d open the curtains and throw them open. It was so quaint. Except the pigeons liked to hang out on the sill just outside our room…and those beautiful old windows didn’t have screens.
While having them open was nice, I think Kris enjoyed it more than I did. I could hear the pigeons perched just outside our window. They were cooing and chattering. Kris doesn’t believe me, but I’m pretty sure those pigeons outside were gossiping about us…or maybe plotting to eat our faces.
That’s quite a journey for my first post back. From migraines to squirrels to Paris to plotting pigeons, I hope you enjoyed the adventure. Thanks for coming along for the ride. It’s great to be back.
If this post made you smile, I’d love it if you’d give it a like or share. It helps more people discover Brain Fog & Brilliance, and I truly appreciate your support.
If you enjoy stories about life, family, travel, humor, and the occasional unexpected rabbit hole, I’d love to have you along for the journey. Subscribe so you never miss a post!
Leave a Reply