This post can’t be too long. In such heat (upały), when żar leje się z nieba (literally: heat is pouring from the sky), even the diligent participants of Polish courses need respite. These are the days when when the sun is not simply shining (świeci), or blazing down (grzeje literally: heating/spreading heat), but… schorching (praży). That’s right, the heat wave has been sweeping across Poland (przechodzi fala upałów). It’s the time once called kanikuła (dog days). Nowadays this word is hardly ever used, it’s been replaced by a more trivial word upał (heat).
HOW DOES THE VERB POCIĆ SIĘ (TO SWEAT) CONJUGATE?
On such scorching days (upalne dni), when the temperature reaches 35C in the shade (w cieniu), we’re always looking for ways to keep cool (szukamy ochłody). How can we cool down (ochłodzić się)? Some people find relieve in the shade of trees (cień drzew), in a hammock, with a good book and a glass of lemonade or ice tea (mrożona herbata). Others, hoping for a breeze (bryza), go to the seaside and spend their time sunbathing on the beach and biorą morskie kąpiele (going in the water; literally: taking sea baths). Unfortunately, some people need to work. If they don’t have air conditioning, they are sweating (pocą się ) behind their desks, and even on their way to work, sweat (pot) running down their back. The only thing they can think of is a long cool shower (chłodny prysznic).
Sultry evenings (parne wieczory) only make things worse, since there seems to be no air to breathe, and humidity (wilgotność powietrza) is very high. It’s stuffy (duszno) everywhere, and those at the seaside, those who have just got out of their hammocks and those who have come back home after a long day at work, they all feel that, too.
PROS AND CONS OF SUMMER
Hot summer days may be a pretty bad time also for farmers (persistent drought – susza – may damage the crops), and foresters (hot air, sun, spark and… fire in consequence). But let’s do not complain, because we all actually like the long summer days (letnie dni), outdoor events organised in the city in summertime, the abundance of blueberries, blackberries and chanterelle mashrooms in woods, ice-cream, which we can buy simply everywhere, and a cool breeze (chłodna bryza) in the sails when we’re sailing across the Masurian lakes. We’ll have something to remember and talk about during the looong, freezing and dark winter nights :)
