The start of the sauna

As I’ve said before, writing this column in early June, after a wonderfully cool May, I have to ass/u/me (you know what that stands for, right?) that I’m making an accurate prediction…or not. It’s not much of a stretch, though. Coming here since the late 1970’s and living here for almost 31 years, I can with confidence predict what our summer months are like…I hope!

It’s July, the beginning of the three months in our year where everything…and I mean everything…is hot and wet, and I don’t mean that in a good or lascivious way. Those of us who are permanent residents begin to make plans to escape to cooler climes as the heat and humidity climb into August…and the dreaded September … (cue the scream and scary music…). In my case, a trip to the Pacific Northwest for a week or so and then visit relatives in upper Wisconsin where it is a lot cooler, but not a lot less humid, is still a good trade off. August and September? The mountains of Arizona, above 6,000 feet MSL, beckon.

Some who are unable or unwilling, for any number of reasons, to leave Peñasco during July, August and September simply hunker down in their homes and crank the A/C up to MAX. If it is your practice to usually walk your dogs, you do it at “O dark thirty” at either the beginning (before sunrise) or the end (after sunset) of each day, unless you enjoy par boiling yourself and your canine companions. The sand is akin to fire walking on a bed of hot coals, and no matter how much you dry yourself off after swimming in the Sea of Cortez, you’re still wet!

The funny thing is, we have been getting a lot of visitors and tourists who come to our fair city in the summer months. I guess it’s because the kids are out of school and, if they live in most parts of Arizona anyway, they figure the heat and humidity are not that much different than the monsoon season (July, August, September) in the Valley. They’re wrong, of course, but who am I to dissuade them?

Hanging out by the swimming pools of the wonderful resorts along Sandy Beach, Playa Azul and the Encantame Towers, sipping cool cocktails at the swim up bars and retiring to fully air-conditioned suites, take the bite out of the heat and humidity which is beginning to grip our town for the next few months. We who live here, however, do not find barricading ourselves in air-conditioned homes or condos, to escape the weather, as appealing as do those of our fellows from up north.

Let’s face it, if you are coming to Peñasco for a summer vacation, you’re not too worried about the heat and humidity (see above). After all, cities like Miami and Houston also have steamy weather and they attract tourists during the summer as well. I’d bet those people or some folks from Kansas City, if you asked them what they thought of their summer weather, you’d probably get many of them agreeing with the Old Gringo.

It’s really a matter of degree, I guess. The excitement of vacationing in old Mexico, in a gringo friendly environment, with all of the amenities you could want while enjoying the culture, food and proximity to the Sea pretty much negates the discomfort we who live here endure during the hot summer months.

If I may be forgiven (and even if I’m not) for opining “years ago” stories, things weren’t always this way. In years past, our town just closed up shop, literally and figuratively during the heat of summer. Those who had to work did, but many took time off. Restaurants closed for the month of August, many of the small shops closed up too, to reopen again in mid-September when the gringo tourists and fisherman began, once again, to migrate to town.

The pace of the city slowed waaaaay down. It was sort of nice. Today, naturally, the draw is such that the pace of life in town and even out on the playas hardly slows at all. More is the pity. However, if you’re reading this in July, and you’re in town for a getaway…que tengas buenas vacaciones!!