Why I love the heat, even when it’s 95F (35C) on the way to 102F (39C).
New York City is supposed to hit 102 F (39 C) today. So far it’s 95 F (35 C) and since my battery was drained and the rest of the week is forecast to be cloudy, I’m out in the park charging.
The park is mostly empty. Here’s my view right now, showing a fraction the number you’d see when the temperature was lower.
You can also tell I’m sitting in the shade. It cools me probably ten degrees. Yes, I’m more lethargic and less active than usual because I overheat fast if I move around. My burpees this morning I did significantly slower than usual and felt well more winded. I could go on about how much less comfortable I feel.
I’ll also probably go to the library later to take advantage of its air conditioning, though I’m also scheduled to volunteer today, which means pulling a heavy load of produce in the hottest part of the day. Today is also a fast day, which means means I eat about 24 hours after my last meal, which means I still eat today, just only dinner.
I don’t use the air conditioning in my apartment, which made sleeping the last two nights hard, contributing to my lethargy today. All I have to do at home to cool off is walk into my hallway or lobby since as far as I can tell, everyone else in the building conditions their air, even when they aren’t home.
So what’s to love?
None of the above describes what’s in my heart. I’m not “not using the air conditioner”. I am loving my neighbors as myself, including the neighbors on the other side of the world who would be made refugees to get at the minerals and fuels under their land, whose families would be torn apart for my comfort.
I am thinking of people from past generations who lived here and didn’t suffer or think of future comforts. I am thinking of Thomas Jefferson, who couldn’t bring himself to think of others first and kept his slaves and the comforts they brought him, knowing he was contributing to tearing the nation he loved apart.
I am thinking of solutions, not capitulating as I used to. I am thinking of a future where this spot and most of Manhattan is again covered with trees not asphalt. I am thinking of all cities becoming walkable, no car necessary, and on top of walkable, walkable in the shade of trees so even when it’s hot above the tree canopy, it’s relatively comfortable below.
Imagine streams return so I can put my feet in their cool water.
Most New Yorkers in air conditioned comfort (comfort for them, destruction and death for others because of their actions), are probably getting more work done that drives the system warming, polluting, and depleting the world.
For their ill-bought comfort they get internal conflict. For my embracing nature, I get liberation and freedom. I’ll take that trade.
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