Sultry, ain't it?

If I had half a brain I would close the windows and turn on the A/C. I had it running today while I worked because it's so unbelievably humid outside, if I hadn't, my clients would have stuck to the sheets.

When my work day was over, I opened the windows and welcomed in the soft, warm air. I'm always like this at the beginning of summer. I think - oh, this humidity is so charming, it's so southern, it's so sweet! By July I will be over this fantasy, of course.

Tonight, the windows are open and I'm glowing, as they say in the south. One thing I missed every summer in San Francisco was weather hot enough to make me sweat. It is cleansing - it really is.

The air tonight is not too hot at all - maybe about 80 F. It's thick with a bit too much oxygen, perhaps, but we're not into the Code Orange and Code Red days yet, so it is breathable - rather like standing in a steam room for awhile.

I'm enjoying it. At the first blush of summer, some steam is a good thing: good for the health. After a cold, dry winter, the bronchial tubes need some moistening. Also the humidity tamps down the pollen, always a lovely thing for me in the midst of grass pollination season.

A storm system will pass through on Friday, they say, bringing temps back down into the 60s F. I'm all for it. Though I enjoy the first blush of summer, it gets old fast, especially when urban pollution becomes mired in the humid air of DC. In summer, the Death Star (as my friend calls this beautiful, powerful, wounded city) is utterly toxic. It's unbearable!

I will be getting out a few times this summer, for short bouts to the midwest, W. Virginia, and best of all, the finger lakes in upstate New York. I will prevail.

I welcome summer this year, as I always do, before I remember what summer here really means. My memory is like a sieve. Ignorance is bliss.

Welcome summer! Shalom.