Back to June

The outside temperature sensor in my car early Thursday afternoon read 41 degrees Celsius. True enough, as I disembarked from the air-conditioned cabin in the parking lot, I felt the hot air rush in like opening the door of a preheated oven.

- Atty. Ian Vincent Manticajon

This brings back a contrasting memory from several years ago during my teenage years, when summertime at this time of year was spent outdoors playing soccer or climbing trees, taking naps at the top of a santol tree in a crude treehouse my cousin and I built ourselves. Contrasting, because back then, there was a cool breeze that balanced the scorching afternoon sun. All you needed was to move around to feel the wind or perch on top of trees, relishing the long summer break.

These days, college students are still in school, enduring hot classrooms, or if facilities are air-conditioned, enduring the commute and time spent outside in humid, oven-hot weather, with nary a breeze to offer relief from the midday sun.