Musings
an Online Journal of Sorts

By Alyce Wilson

Our garden doesn't seem to mind the heat

The hardest part of the heat wave we're experiencing is how it cramps my dog walking schedule. I've had to skip our afternoon dog walk now for the entire week, because it's steaming hot. Una drags behind me, miserable.

Yesterday morning, as we were walking, an older man saw me with my dog and asked if I was making sure she got enough water. I said yes, of course. He told me that he'd raised two dogs, both German Shepherds and used to put big blocks of ice in their water bowls for them.

Some dogs like ice; my sister's dog, Emma, likes to chew on ice cubes. Una, however, can take it or leave it.

This older man was wearing a towel on his head, which struck me as unusual because I thought it was only young guys who did that. As I told someone the other day, I doubt anyone in Central Pennsylvania would believe me if I told them that the youth of Philadelphia would much rather wear a towel over their head than a baseball hat to keep off the sun.

I first noticed this trend a few summers ago when we had a particularly steamy heat wave. I didn't think too much about it at the time, but the trend seems to have spread. When I finally saw Philadelphia 76ers star Allen Iverson wearing a towel on his head during a national newscast, I got an inkling where they got it from.

Either they're imitating their sports heroes, or they've all read The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy and therefore know the galactic importance of towels.

In our place there are two distinct climates, which becomes most evident during extremes in weather. Downstairs is always cooler, and the upstairs, where my office is located, is always warmer. In winter I'm grateful; in summer, I'm uncomfortable.

Considering there's very little air circulation in my office, I need to run the air conditioner as soon as it becomes warm. Usually, this feels pretty good, but this week it hasn't seemed to help.

Our dog, Una, and I drink plenty of water. We also engage in a contest of wills as she continually balls up the bathroom rug so she can lie on the tiles, and I continually straighten it back out.

Luke, our kitty, reacts differently. He spends long hours relaxing on the cool metal radiator cover in front of the air conditioner. He eats sparingly, which is one reason his wobbly belly has been getting smaller since summer began.

Strangely, he's also been more playful in the mornings, and he tears around the apartment, playing with cat toys (and after all, everything is a cat toy). The Gryphon joked that he lies in front of the air conditioner so that he didn't need to bother himself with shedding. Of course, knowing him, he's found a way to turn it into a game and is joyously shedding all over the house as I write this.

Well, we've reached the end of the dog walk, and I'm not sweating through my shirt like I have been the last couple days. Maybe we'll finally get a break.

Copyright 2006 by Alyce Wilson

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