summer life
No pictures lately. I've been doing like the cat - too hot, just lay around. It already takes so much effort to be productive and get work and writing done. Extra stuff is unnecessary.
Monday's beach volleyball was good, but playing in the humidity was just disgusting. Having already divested myself of as much clothing as possible while still appearing relatively decent (for the beach), being able to sweat freely was good, but the lack of air movement (except when you're moving, yourself) meant sticky, and sticky meant irrevocably sandy.
For the rest of the week, working at the cool libraries was a welcome relief, but the problem is getting to these places. Getting on my bike even at 10am in the morning when the heat is already at 28°c and up, on the warm, muggy urban streets means that I arrive at the freezing libraries soaked in sweat. Recipe for disaster.
Just being in the apartment is miserable. Getting home every evening, on the way up the stairs we can feel the air getting warmer. Opening the door always feels like I'm entering the confines of a clothes dryer in the middle of the cycle (it, oddly enough, even occasionally smells like laundry in here).
Wednesday evening we had a brief respite in the form of free tickets (offered by my darling advisor) to the TFC game. It started at 8pm, just as the sun was getting low in the sky, and the stadium by the lake made it a very pleasant evening. However, the bike ride home got us all heated up, and by the time we got home we were a pair of soppy, melting popsicles all over again.
On Thursday morning, the day of the "big heat" - 38°c max forecast at Pearson - which would turn out to be ~40°c downtown amidst the tarmac and concrete (and probably also not enough trees), Gale called to ask if we'd like to go up to the Richmond Hill House to get away from the heat. She was also concerned about the cat, who had been restlessly and listlessly laying splayed out on the floor as much as possible, moving to a new spot every 15 minutes or so when she'd warmed it up too much. We did put her in the tub filled with an inch of cold water the other day, which helped, but was ultimately a short-term solution. Kitty was too hot to even beg for breakfast. We accepted Gale's offer immediately, and she agreed to come down right away to pick us up. J had a free ticket to the Jays game that afternoon though, with JR, so he came up later in the day.
Kitty was upset at being stuffed unceremoniously into her cage, but once we arrived at the big, air-conditioned house, she perked up right away and was back to being her usual perky, curious, beggy self (we were having chicken for lunch). I settled down to write in the kitchen, Roger was watching golf, and Gale had gone out to teach a class. Kitty was napping comfortably in the chair next to me, and things were going pretty well until the power went out later in the afternoon.
It always makes me laugh when the power goes out here. Brownouts will always remind me of my little stint in Ho Chi Minh City.
Anyway. The brief respite was good. J and I came back downtown for our Friday night softball game, but decided to leave Kitty in the big house for a nice, cool holiday. Life, and summer!, goes on, and I miss the cat, but at least she's living it up.
Monday's beach volleyball was good, but playing in the humidity was just disgusting. Having already divested myself of as much clothing as possible while still appearing relatively decent (for the beach), being able to sweat freely was good, but the lack of air movement (except when you're moving, yourself) meant sticky, and sticky meant irrevocably sandy.
For the rest of the week, working at the cool libraries was a welcome relief, but the problem is getting to these places. Getting on my bike even at 10am in the morning when the heat is already at 28°c and up, on the warm, muggy urban streets means that I arrive at the freezing libraries soaked in sweat. Recipe for disaster.
Just being in the apartment is miserable. Getting home every evening, on the way up the stairs we can feel the air getting warmer. Opening the door always feels like I'm entering the confines of a clothes dryer in the middle of the cycle (it, oddly enough, even occasionally smells like laundry in here).
Wednesday evening we had a brief respite in the form of free tickets (offered by my darling advisor) to the TFC game. It started at 8pm, just as the sun was getting low in the sky, and the stadium by the lake made it a very pleasant evening. However, the bike ride home got us all heated up, and by the time we got home we were a pair of soppy, melting popsicles all over again.
On Thursday morning, the day of the "big heat" - 38°c max forecast at Pearson - which would turn out to be ~40°c downtown amidst the tarmac and concrete (and probably also not enough trees), Gale called to ask if we'd like to go up to the Richmond Hill House to get away from the heat. She was also concerned about the cat, who had been restlessly and listlessly laying splayed out on the floor as much as possible, moving to a new spot every 15 minutes or so when she'd warmed it up too much. We did put her in the tub filled with an inch of cold water the other day, which helped, but was ultimately a short-term solution. Kitty was too hot to even beg for breakfast. We accepted Gale's offer immediately, and she agreed to come down right away to pick us up. J had a free ticket to the Jays game that afternoon though, with JR, so he came up later in the day.
Kitty was upset at being stuffed unceremoniously into her cage, but once we arrived at the big, air-conditioned house, she perked up right away and was back to being her usual perky, curious, beggy self (we were having chicken for lunch). I settled down to write in the kitchen, Roger was watching golf, and Gale had gone out to teach a class. Kitty was napping comfortably in the chair next to me, and things were going pretty well until the power went out later in the afternoon.
It always makes me laugh when the power goes out here. Brownouts will always remind me of my little stint in Ho Chi Minh City.
Anyway. The brief respite was good. J and I came back downtown for our Friday night softball game, but decided to leave Kitty in the big house for a nice, cool holiday. Life, and summer!, goes on, and I miss the cat, but at least she's living it up.