Hot, Part 2

Gainesville

Hope the sleep-over is going well. I want to hear all the latest from the garden, and details of the cooking. Pictures, if possible!

A low key day here. We had some nice thunder-showers in the afternoon while I was shopping. But it was so hot that my glasses steamed over when I came out of Publix and stayed so until I got to the car-- steam was billowing across the asphalt parking lot as if it were on fire. Our air conditioning is working overtime, but still can't keep the house really comfortable. I wonder what the heck I ever did with my old tank tops and light weight sleevless things? I seldom wear such anymore, since it's usually so cold in the house with the AC on, and they keep the stores cold too. Shoulda spent some time decluttering the closets-- bet they'd have turned up. I looked under the bed, and found, instead, a plastic bin with winter clothes I'd been missing for 6-7 years! D'oh!

Too hot to cook. We did sushi, shrimp ring, and I made a really good salad that's kind of like tabouli, but with cauli-rice, chopped spinach and sliced green olives in addition to the standard stuff (parsley, scallions, celery, tomatoes). I made a half-recipe, since that's all the leftover cauli-rice I had, but next time I'm going to save enough to make a full recipe. It's the kind of thing that gets better for the next day or two.

I've now run out of the "Palomar" stories in Love and Rockets-- will have to wait until the order I placed with Amazon today comes in. Probably just as well, since work next week will definitely put a crimp in my reading schedule. Meanwhile, of course, I can go back and read the "Locas" stories I skipped. They tend to be more light-hearted. Good thing, as "Duck Feet," which I read today, is very dark and disturbing. It's gritty stuff, but brilliant and compelling.

The order also includes the various handbooks and critical works about Pullman's Dark Materials, so I'll be able to tell you about those too, Sandy.

And speaking of orders, I was delighted to see FL is offering a water bottle. I have been pressing the plastic mug-with-top I use for bathroom water (which must be transported to and from the kitchen where the water is filtered) into service as an all-purpose hydrator. When it's this hot, I like to keep frozen bottles around, but that gets complicated-- they're either frozen or no longer cold. Anyway, I ordered one of hers along with next year's calendar. It looks like it might be a great solution to having cold water beside the bed that won't spill, but doesn't have to be unscrewed. We shall see.

Even the terrazzo floors are not up to this heat: I have to keep moving my bare feet around to find a cool patch. They tend always be cold. I'm astonished that Al Gore, of all people, has become the poster-boy for global warming/warning. His film opened in town and was mobbed such that the multiplex had to actually open a SECOND SCREEN for it. And this for a documentary, no less. Hello. I think we have a problem here that might be bigger than it seems.