August 31, 2009

Cool Thinking



Cabrillo Lighthouse at the top of Point Loma in the nonexistent ocean breezes; below, the offshore Mexican islands bake in the sun on a clear day. 2009.


Himself: Dragged her off to a matinee then to JCPenney's both with AC. He bought dress shorts for six bucks. 92 in the Mission Valley when we came out of the theater, 89 at Tarjay where we tried to buy a small room AC, and now it is 88 here under the fans. Everybody but Costco is out of AC's. Himself has birthday's to do today....his job.

Herself: We both agreed that "Time Travelers Wife" was a well done movie.

Life: The heat has taken over the city and everyone's lives. Taking book with me to meeting tonight, but not going to the non-AC'd cubby meeting tomorrow. Ditto Tuesday and Thursday. I will exercise at dawn Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday. If it is still roasting out there, I may cool off in the pool this Friday too. Lazy be me in the heat this week. I'm thinking cool at 90 when everyone else has it worse than we do. Breakfast is toast, the last toast for a while. Today pancakes out, thick mayo on the lunch sandwich, and ribs with potatoe salad at Phils BBQ tonight. We diet tomorrow.

Reading: The next Peter Bowen Gabriel du Pre mystery. I do really recommend these. My eyes are tired.

Balance: Air Conditioners. No, I'm not taking myself too seriously.

We turn the fan on and sleep outside the sheets. For a while when we first lie in the fan's breeze, we think we are miserable. We toss. We turn, and only slowly do we find a way to sleep where nothing hurts or sticks or turns itself into a puddle.

Perhaps the heat magnifies the twinge here or the stuck tendon there. You toss and turn again only to discover it's now two o'clock, or three. One of you get's up to go to the bathroom and notices that the night is cooler at last. Later still, someone pulls up the sheet.

We watch the fog moving onshore at night, and we cheer. We act surprised when the world outside the windows is a wall of grey at dawn. In the wetness, we dance on the dampened grass outside our door.
By nine in the morning, we are all huddled miserably next to the fan once again. By ten we are immovable. Imagine the fire fighters in their Nomex layers working in 100 plus degrees.



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4 comments:

  1. lilaliaAugust 31, 2009 at 9:14 AM

    An old Aussie trick is to put on a wet pair of socks and direct the fan at your feet. Takes all the heat out of your body.

    My sister worked for a few summers as a fire fighter in the forests of Canada. Grueling grueling work. Physically torturous, longlong hours, heat straight from an oven, and a constant sense of emergency and not being able to meet the challenge.

    ReplyDelete
  2. AnonymousAugust 31, 2009 at 10:34 AM

    Come to Pittsburgh where the sun is shining and it's deliciously cool. Supposed to be great all week.

    Those fires sound horrible. I ache every time I hear about them.

    ReplyDelete
  3. TaborAugust 31, 2009 at 1:28 PM

    In the high 60's last night and tonight even cooler. At long last fall is on its way here. Hoping your heat breaks soon.

    ReplyDelete
  4. AliceSeptember 1, 2009 at 6:54 PM

    Lovely prose. Lovely photo of the lighthouse. We see the smoky haze from the fire all the way here in Utah.

    ReplyDelete

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