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Slaying the Monster of Summer

It's quite an experience this summer. After a decade of a Captain Ahab-like obsession about Dry Heat, I'm finally at peace with summer. Credit the snowiest winter in a generation. It seems important to follow through on this breakthrough. We are after all naked apes, adapted to hot African savannas. We are supposed to be at peace with warmth. In cold weather we can never really relax; it is an enemy we must always be on the guard against.

A friend told me once that when he lived in Florida he survived by taking four showers per day. It took some real effort to force myself to take merely two. Why was that so hard? Can trivial daily habits really be so hard to change?

The next nail in summer's coffin must come from sleeping hours. When you live at an altitude of 6000 feet in a dry western state, it gets nice at night, no matter how hot the afternoon. Thus we have perfect weather for 18 hours per day. Why sleep through half of them? More than anything else, gringo sleeping habits destroy one's ability to enjoy summer. Most people praise the sensibleness of Mexican hours in a hot, dry climate. But how many have acted on their opinion? That is this summer's project. Of course even if I succeed in this project, I'll have to do the reverse adjustment in October.

Comments

Anonymous said…
For some reason, your old & new blog got blocked at work. Today, I can view both. I have alot of reading to do to catch up on your travels.

G & R from JAX, FL
Yea, I don't know why they'd get blocked. Glad it's over.