A Girl...

Hot Hot Heat

Sweet honeybaked ham, is it ever hot here!

For a region that generally hovers between 58 and 72 all year round, yesterday's temps were a smackdown. At 7:30 last night I checked the stats online and the graphic said:

Hi[gh]: 82
Lo[w]: 59
Current: 87
(Why is it so hard to spell out "high" and "low," especially if there's room for "current"? Why?)

I don't claim to be any kind of math genius, but does anyone else see a problem here?

So what did we do on the hottest day in recent memory? We opened windows and moved as slowly as possible throughout the house (to conserve energy) and then we, what?, fled to the coast where the cool winds would blow over the sea and refresh our wilted limbs with a salty ocean breeze? No. We headed East, inland, over the hills, where it was five degrees hotter. Duh.

Our plan was to head up to Mount Diablo, the highest point in the East Bay (and therefore cooler? or just closer to the wretched, unfeeling sun?), but we only got as far as Clayton, which has a one-street downtown area either preserved as or dressed up to look like a Gold Rush-era community. (The concrete sidewalks were stamped to look like wooden boardwalks, with nails and everything.) Happily, we happened upon Clayton during its annual Art and Wine Festival, so instead of just driving by and cooing at the small-scale Victorian cottage that now houses Ye Olde Dentistry Shoppe, we spent an hour or so walking around in the hot hot heat, checking out ye olde suncatchers and batik dresses and kettle korn before heading back across the hills, armed with the First Slurpee of the Season (coke and black cherry lemonade), which was much needed due to the heat and also to the unfortunate circumstance of Simon's allergies cum headache and my allergies cum sore throat. Who knew that Slurpees were some sort of magical health elixir? I would like a prescription of one per day, pleaseandthankyou. (More picks on Flickr.)

While I'm on the subject of allergies, let me just put it out there that we've had enough and would like it to stop now. Simon's sneezing, I'm sneezing, the neighbors up and down our street are sneezing, and I can hear them all not only in the middle of the day but in the middle of the night. (I can also hear your bass stereo and all the car alarms it sets off as it boom-boom-booms down the pavement at 2 a.m. Also, why is there a tour bus parked out front in our residential neighborhood? Why?) I just feel like if ever there were a time for our community to come together, now would be the time. Perhaps if we could all hold hands and sneeze just once, real big, we'd get over this superpollen allergy nonsense that much sooner, together, and be stronger for it. But no. We sneeze alone and there's no end in sight. Rats.

Speaking of communities coming together for the greater good, when the freeway interchange melted last week, I was so proud of how everyone in the Bay Area pulled together in the wake of disaster--the mayor of San Francisco declared public transportation free on the first day after the meltdown, people were voluntarily telecommuting, drivers were doling out extra-courteous courtesy waves, and everyone everywhere was all atwitter with "Oh, thank heavens no one was hurt or killed" and "Oh my, yes, quite unusual, highly irregular, but we'll all get through it together, as a team, do you know all the words to kumbayah?"

And then a few days passed and construction estimates came out at the vague "months," leaving us to question "but how many? two? sixty-four?" and then the people living along the surface-street detour routes started calling community meetings during which they dreamed up conspiracy theories about why their neighborhoods were chosen for detours (uh...because that's the easiest way to get people between Points A and B, and everybody's sorry, but the detours had to go somewhere, so just CHILL), and then we started getting grainy photos of and background reports about how the truckdriver who caused the collapse is a former felon etc. etc. and I swear to god, will everybody just step back and look at what a huge tragedy this might have been but, blessedly, wasn't? The guy got burned on his face and hands, the detours will go away eventually, and we all just need to relax because grumbling will only make things worse. Okay then. Deeeeeep breath.

That said, we did have a nice Saturday in the city and the only road inconvenience we suffered was not being able to get a good enough view of the collapse. We had to drive fifteen whole minutes out of our way for a few crappy pictures. Can you imagine?!

We went to the city because my Bank of America is getting me free museum admission throughout the month of May (and you too? check it out), so we spent the afternoon at the deYoung Museum in Golden Gate Park. Honestly, it wasn't all we'd hoped, but it was definitely worth the price of admission, and we enjoyed the vista from the seven-story tower. (More pics on Flickr.)

As you can tell, it was an extraordinary weekend. Extraordinary in its niceness, its hotness, its relaxedness. By Saturday morning I'd already forgotten Simon was freshly returned from abroad; the only major differences from our usual routine is a renewed committment to keeping the house clean and the dishes done, and a renewed committment to a little less television, a little more conversation. It was refreshing to have nothing planned, no one to see, no errands to run, even if it is blazing hot. Good thing too because in just a few short days it all picks up again, starting with a trip to Las Vegas, which has recently been enclosed in an allergy-free bubble with a thermostat set to exactly 72 degrees. Yes? Shit.

This time it's not our fault, though. My longtime internet boyfriend, Will, and his smashing bride, Nina, are getting married this week (MARRIED!), and Simon and I are among the esteemed invitees. They're webcasting the ceremony, and although I can't promise you I'll be a featured cameo, I can promise that Nina's dress will knock your ever-loving socks off, and Will won't be so bad either, so send an email to the Slackmistress herself if you want a peek. Because, seriously, who doesn't love a wedding? If you turn your volume way up perhaps you'll hear my happy sobs in the background. That and the click click of my trusty camera.

Speaking of my camera, visit Flickr, won't you? There's lots to see.

Posted by Leah at May 7, 2007 01:08 PM