Having lived here in the Kern River Valley for years without either A/C or swamp cooler and I once more look forward to the temp hitting a comfortable 100 degrees I’m reminded that one of Henry Thoreau’s visitors described himself as being “deficient in intellect,” but supposed the Lord had made him so and must love him as much as any other. Now gentle reader while some might think my being born in Weedpatch and being comfortable at 100 degrees automatically consigns me to those “deficient in intellect,” like Henry’s visitor I suppose the Lord made me so and loves me as much as any other.

I was raised in the heat of Bakersfield summers back in a time when A/C was a rarity in homes and virtually non-existent in cars and I have been a naturally born desert rat all my life; and had it not been for a family would have chosen to move to Death Valley which is one of my favorite places on earth. As I watch the lizards sunning themselves on the rocks about my place here I’m inclined to join the little critters; they know what’s really good about the good ol’ summertime. Had the Lord intended me to like the cold of winter I suppose I’d have been born an Eskimo. But I was born in Weedpatch not Alaska, and I’m not one to question my Maker’s choice of birthplace.

When Huckleberry Finn decided if his friend Tom Sawyer wasn’t going to make it to heaven then he would just as soon join Tom in that “other place.” While Sam Clemens was very familiar with both Milton and Bunyan, I doubt when he had Huck make that observation it was with the idea of “Better to reign in Hell, than serve in Heav’n.” It may be the Lord set my “thermostat” at birth to best equip me for Bakersfield summers. On the other hand, as per either Dante or Milton, if I don’t make it to heaven maybe I’m better equipped for that “other place” Jesus described and Huck mentioned. Then too, maybe “Cabin in the Sky” had it right and Satan (Lucifer is incorrect despite the History Channel et al.) needs his offices equipped with A/C? No; it made a nice touch in the movie but the Scripture doesn’t quibble about a “lake of fire” prepared for the Devil and his followers.

Well, I don’t know if I’m going to heaven or hell but I’ve made it to Bodfish. Some would say… Oh, never mind, I know what some would say and you just have to mention Bakersfield to get the same reaction; however, in the case of Bodfish I know people are just jealous. But at least I’m well-suited for life here in the Kern River Valley without either A/C or swamp cooler and the temps pretty well match those of Bakersfield; and the heat of summer makes for those glorious warm mornings and evenings that are both music and a fragrant, soothing balm to my soul, helping me forget the bitter cold of winter and having to bundle up and type with freezing fingers while the resident cat warms itself on my lap.

But I will once more have to get back into the routine of being cautious walking barefoot in the dark knowing lizards and tarantulas will be in the house, even the occasional snake. I’ll have to be careful outside because of these together with mosquitoes and bats. And there is no denying the dangers extreme temps pose; we will undoubtedly begin hearing of children and pets left unattended and dying in cars, there will be the fires threatening all about and especially here in the Kern River Valley; twice now they have threatened my own home and weed abatement is an absolute must in this area. Yet, for those of us who grew up without A/C in homes or cars it reminds of a time when life did not seem to demand such luxuries as “necessities.”

With the return of balmy summer evenings I stroll around my place here in the country recalling the summers of childhood and remember the lines by Harper Lee that “Somehow it seemed hotter then... Ladies bathed before noon, after their three-o’clock naps, and by nightfall were like soft teacakes with frostings of sweat and sweet talcum.” Ah, dear Harper Lee, how very well you described things before people became so spoiled and got used to “better;” and how very easily we get used to “better” as the woman told Sidney Poitier “In the Heat of the Night.”

During the late 40s and early 50s while living on the mining claim here with my maternal grandparents and great-grandmother there was no electricity, gas, or indoor plumbing. The winters and summers were just as intense then as now, but never once do I recall hearing the folks complain about doing without what most would consider “necessities.” And I don’t doubt it was these kinds of people who did not receive government checks but earned their own way through life taught me the difference between necessities and luxuries, and not to take getting used to better for granted.

However, while I am well suited to the extreme temps of summer I have no quarrel with those who are used to “better,” but unlike so many I’m not as inclined to think of luxuries as being “necessities;” I see them for what they are; luxuries, and not to be taken for granted simply because people have gotten used to “better.” But isn’t this the kind of government we have in America, a government so out of control concerning spending that people have been given unearned entitlements. And now that so many have gotten used to “better” take it for granted that government check and the panoply of social services have somehow been “earned” by some mystical process none can define, but they have become the slaves of a government rather than the Lord that has made them so.