In the heat of the night . . .

The weather the last few days has been horrible - really horrible. I don't ever remember it being so humid in all my years here. The air conditioner has hardly any effect - the house feels hot no matter what you do.

Just as luck would have it I had to go to a wedding for my neighbor. Most people nowadays have weddings in rented wedding halls. Most wedding halls are large, spacious and comfortable. But there are many women who will not attend a wedding that is held in a wedding hall - actually I don't think it is the women but their husbands who won't permit it. In the past there weren't very many wedding halls available and if someone wanted to rent a place they usually rented a hall in a hotel - they were often mixed parties with men able to come in and see what they women were up to. This is why many women weren't allowed to go - they would be seen by the men folk. This is pretty silly nowadays as many of the ladies are in there secretly taking pictures with their cell phones.

The wedding I went to yesterday was in a tent in front of the house. It was air conditioned by about five huge air conditioners. Unfortunately the weather was so hot, humid and it was so crowded that the air conditioners had no effect at all. Most of the ladies had fans and were fanning themselves. In the beginning of the party they all had their mirrors out every few minutes trying to keep themselves looking beautiful, but in the end most just gave up and opened their handbags, took out hair elastics and clips and pulled their hair up as best they could.

At one point I poured myself a glass of cold water and spilled it into the front of my blouse - actually I did this about three times. It didn't matter since my clothes were soaking wet anyway. When they started to bring out the dinner they came out with cans of soda and I held the cold can against my face and neck to try to cool off. No one had any appetite for the dinner. I waited until after everyone had been served and made a quick exit.

I felt miserable - but I looked at the poor bride and felt so sorry for her. If I felt awful I could only image what she must have felt like all dressed up in a nylon wedding gown.

I spent a sleepless night as I ended up with a splitting headache. I am doing my best to recover. Sunday I have another party to go to - and guess what? It's going to be held in a tent!