Paciencia y fe

Calor, calor, calor...

In In the Heights, an old musical and a new movie, Abuela Claudia sings about the heat. She sings about a lot more than the heat, of course, but lately the heat has been on my mind. Although I believe summer’s hottest day is still ahead of us, I can’t help but hear the crystal clear voice of Olga Merediz, who plays the matriarch in both iterations of the wonderful musical by Lin-Manuel Miranda, each time I open the door to my car and am welcomed by that always expected (and yet always bracing) wave of hot air.

Ay Mamá, summer’s hottest day...

Suddenly, almost without warning, summer arrived in Chapel Hill. It was spring, then I went inside for a while, and the next time I walked outside I promptly began to melt. The middle of June snuck in like a vandal in the midst of a blackout, laying a blanket over the southern part of heaven almost as if to encourage everyone to take it easy. There’s a lull in the summer months, when school is out and families take vacations. Especially in a college town, this heat-driven slowdown is noticeable; never more than the weeks after the end of the last athletic season of the scholastic year.

Ay carajo, it’s hot...

These doldrums started a bit earlier than they have in the past for the Tar Heel faithful. Some teams are yet looking forward to a trip to Omaha to play in the College World Series; the Diamond Heels unfortunately headed back to Chapel Hill after falling to UCLA in the Lubbock Regional. The final athletic event of the year that featured current Tar Heels ended just last week, leaving us staring down the prospect of a hot few months of waiting to cheer once more for Carolina.

Pacience y fe, paciencia y fe...

These words of Abuela Claudia have wisdom to offer us, to contend with the heat and the lack of things we become accustomed to during the year. A lot of patience, a little bit of faith, and we’ll find ourselves suddenly in August and cheering the Heels on once more. These few months will fly by, not unlike a power outage in a neighborhood, and there will be hundreds of stories to tell when we get our favorite pastimes back. Until then, paciencia y fe.

¡Calor, calor , calor!