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Tuesday, May 3, 2011

Summer in the Habit

Oh my gosh it has begun... summer in the habit.  Each year it feels like that first summer all over again - hot, sticky, hot, uncomfortable, hot, tight, hot, exhausting, hot, disheveled... I could go on.  Today was probably the hottest / most humid day so far this year.  School was brutal.  Imagine thirty, gross on a good day, middle schoolers all packed into a classroom without air conditioning.   God knows I love them but they are full of hot air and can't keep themselves... to themselves!

This morning wasn't too bad with the fans on and the lights off.  The kids were doing some science projects so I wasn't directly instructing them most of the time!  This afternoon took a turn for the worse though and by the end of religion class - filled with questions on the state of Osama bin Laden's soul - I was exhausted!  I thought... I'm grabbing my laptop and my books and going home!  Usually, I stay in school for a while after and work but it was just so hot over there.

When I got back to the convent I grabbed a cold drink and started my three floor climb to my room.  I never made it to the third floor.  When I got to the second floor there was a whirlwind of curtains all over the place.  They were hanging over the banister, over chairs, on the ironing board and my dear short sister was trying to hang them up.  I happen to be quite a tall sister so I stopped to help her.  Getting on a ladder and fighting with a metal rod was not what I had planned for the afternoon before prayers and dinner!  Anyway, I did it.

After dinner I raced up to the third floor finally... it was like a victory lap.  All I could think about was getting out of my hot and uncomfortable and now dirty holy habit and under the fan.  Now here I am!  The evening is cooling down a little but it feels like thunderstorms... which I love!  I'm in the middle of writing the last set of progress reports of the year for my darlings in school and I'm content that summer is here and very soon... I'll get over that first hot summer day of the year in the holy habit!

5 comments:

  1. Oh no! Don't you have tropical whites or something, like Audrey Hepburn?

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  2. When I was in the convent ( I only stayed as a novice for a year before descerning God called me elsewhere) I remember the sweating from the habit! But you know, the hardest part of leaving was taking off that habit and putting on lay clothes. You are blessed to be wearing the habit, even in the heat! But I am sure you know that sister! Love your blog!

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  3. Haha... Libbiali - we do have a summer habit but usually we don't wear it until the very end of the school year... it get's dirty so quickly with all those kids!

    Rebecca - You are absolutely right... the habit carries a great grace for which I am grateful... It's just that first hot day that always does me in! This year between Osama bin Laden in religion class and the curtains... I was done for! :) I do love my habit and I'll get back in the groove of the hot weather soon enough!

    Prayers for you both!

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  4. Oh, Sister, I understand! We wear what amounts to 3x the clothes that "regular" people wear plus a closed in cap and veil. You never really do get used to it, do you? These first days of summer are always a bit of a "shock" especially since it's TOO EARLY for it!
    God bless you!

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  5. Thank God it does get easier as the summer wears on... I'm not sure how, but it does! I think it is all the stuff that people can't see underneath that really does me in though! Thanks for you understanding Sister! I hope you can enjoy some of the nicer summer days!

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