July 16, 2006
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Dog Days.
This week has been busy. A new ad campaign that I worked really hard on at work received rave reviews from my colleagues and is scheduled to grace the public this Thursday. The short story that I started a few weeks ago was work-shopped Wednesday night; my classmates and instructor’s reactions to it made my heart sing. When I got home Wednesday, my grandpa surprised me with a phone call to arrange time for us to hang out in Scotland (FUN!). Conversation, smiles, and margaritas happily dominated Thursday night when Shaun and I attended our friend’s engagement party. Saturday night/Sunday morning Shaun and I participated in the LATE Ride, a 25-mile ride that happens from midnight to dawn (we finished earlier) to benefit a group called Friends of the Park.
As cool as the LATE Ride sounded, to be totally honest, it blew. The registration booths were packed so close together that bikes and people were unable to move. I hate the phrase, but it truly was a “cluster fuck.” To make matters worse, there were only 10 porta potties for all the thousands of riders, and above the porta potties was a busted speaker that blared only the treble of the god-awful muzak that the event organizers had confused with “entertainment.” Hordes of full-blattered people huddled in lines for the porta potties with their hands clamped over their ears, cringing. It was like some sick form of torture, really. Also, McDonalds was the event sponsor, so after participating in a nice, healthy bike ride, instead of bagels, fruit, and water like these events usually pass out, they gave away fatty, farty McDonalds breakfast sandwiches. The smell of a McAnything makes me want to dry heave. The ride was nice enough—crowded and slow in a few patches, but overall fine enough. It just sucks that instead of the whole fun communal vibe happening at the start/finish line, participants were aggravated, cranky, and full of processed, greasy lipids.
Oh well, at least I feel good about giving money to the parks, since I use them all the time. Also, the moon on the lake was stunning: it hung pregnant and yellow and low, bathing the inky surface of the water in light. Seeing moonlight ripple and wave on the open water like that made me understand why mariners were so invested in tales of mermaids and deep sea monsters: it was almost hard to believe that I didn’t see a shimmering mer-tail or the long, languid neck of Lockness lift from the moon bathed lake.
Today is HOT HOT HOT. Our neighbor’s thermometer reads 105. And we have no air conditioning. After early morning chores, I employed my usual cooling strategy of hanging out in the shade by the lake, where it is usually cooler and breezier than anywhere else. I biked down to Foster Street Beach this afternoon to have a chilly swim, take a breezy nap, and read some Updike. Imagine my disappointment when I was already sweating when I was not even half way out of the water. Breeze was non-existent. The mosquitoes were feasting. I opted to bike back to our sweltering apartment to read between frequent cold showers. I think even though we are scrimping for Scotland as of late, we’ll see An Inconvenient Truth in the neighborhoods chilly air-conditioned movie theater this evening, just to beat the heat. How funny is it that we are using a documentary about global warming as an excuse to bask in the poluting loveliness that is air conditioning?
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What is keeping you busy in these dog days of summer? Do you employ any successful cooling strategies?
Comments (7)
Growing up in the desert, older people used to always tell us to run our wrists under the coldest water possible – something about your veins being close enough to the skin’s surface so that it helps to cool you faster. I’m always a huge fan of, well, fans -especially if you can somehow hang a wet rag in front of the air flow, which cools the air even more. Good luck, I hear it’s miserable there!
Blech. 105 is awful. It was only about 94 here today, but about a thousand percent humidity. It was so humid here that it actually made our treadmill stop working. My method of staying cool today was to play tennis in the blazing sun for an hour or so and then go inside and lie on the basement floor. That seemed to work, although I don’t recommend it for everyone.
That bit about McD’s sponsoring the ride and handing out fatty breakfast sandwiches … really, farce can’t beat real life sometimes, eh?
As long as I keep my windows closed and the fans running, my house actually stays quite cool. Of course, I began my day with extreme gardening and wrapped it with a nearly two-hour walk along the river (rushing like rapids due to flooding upstream) and lake. Was in the 80s, sunny and hardly any wind. A good chance to shed some pounds, then come home and cool off considerably.
I’ve never done a night ride but the sights, the nature ones, sound pleasant. Oh, there is a McDonalds near the seven mile marker on the bike path I ride and I have to pass it twice. It smells horrible. They have a huge bike rack and people often stop riding there and gorge themselves before taking the seven miles back. What’s the point? I try to ride faster past it but the smell of fried fish carries further than anything. Jeez, you’ve got me thinking aobut doing the one bike marathon they have here in the summer. I’ve never done a group ride. It could be a real learning experience. And I bet you finished early! I’m guessing you cuold do 25 in under two hours hunh?
Sorry that you don’t have a/c. That is why coming home from a ride is so enjoyable for me. So far, we have not hit 100 here. Today is the closest at 94, but it’s still in the 80′s as I write this.
Glad you got positive feedback for your writing. That can be so affirming when it comes from people who are careful readers and know a bit about the process. And cool seriously on the campaign! Good for you.
And you already have social and family plans for Scotland. You are forward thinking that’s for sure!
I’ll look out for your ad campaign.
I lived in Austin for about 8 years, and during three of those summers I didn’t have A/C. I did have a water bed that I could turn the thermostat down a notch on (it doesn’t take much to freeze your kidneys on a water bed).
My favorite trick was when I was going to a friend’s wedding and needed to wear a suit and tie. My car had A/C, and the party was on a boat in the evening, so all I had to do was get out the door. I put all my clothes in the refrigerator an hour early, then took a cold shower before getting dressed.
The other trick that I’ve used more recently is to remember the times I stayed in Russia during the summer when they turn the hot water off (hot water is centrally supplied in Moscow and St. Petersburg). Since I was at a conference I had to shower, shave, and look presentable, and those showers were *cold.* Even in mid-summer, we’re talking Siberian cold. Just the thought of those showers can bring my temperature down on a hot day.
Mine is run the hell into the house as fast as I can and sit in front of the air conditioner. I also shove my clothes in the freezer for like an hour before I have to go out into the blazing heat. It works really well if you spritz them lightly with water. Mmmmm….
Its funny that people would ride 25 miles to get to the finish line and gorge themselves and take in the calories they just lost with like one sandwich.
-Jenn
Well, I’m lucky. We have a/c. I went to the condo where my son lives to use the pool, and it wasn’t even helpful. It was so hot that it just scrambled your brains. I was swimming laps and thinking “THIS is refreshing?” I finally got out of the sun and back into the a/c. I’m usually very heat tolerant but there was something about the intensity of the sun and the high humidity level that completely left me baked. And my tennis teacher said he went running on Monday because he’s training for a triathalon! He’s got to be nuts.
Today is weird. Very humid and ominous.
Lynn