Muggy

No attempt to do anything other than breathe slowly and drink plenty of liquids. The electric grid is suffering from air-conditioner melt-down and the power goes out several times a day. I used to work outside in this weather, farming, ranching, building houses, now I sit very still. Same goes for deep winter, used to work right through it, looking like the Pillsbury Dough Boy, but nonetheless. Now, if the temps are much below zero or much above 90, I make no pretense at physical labor. The forecast is awful, sunny and very hot for the next week. Sign off on it. I need to eat more, but it's too damned hot and I lose interest in chewing. Switch to a summer diet, tomato sandwiches, raw vegetables and dip, cheese, pickles, deviled eggs, avocados, the occasional grilled steak. Once a week, or so, I make a batch of cheese grits in the crock pot, refry patties in olive oil and serve with maple syrup, often with a fried egg on top. Easy nutritious meals is the standard here. Big spooned lollipops of peanut butter, boiled ears of sweet corn dripping with butter and dark with fresh ground pepper. I chill cans of segmented oranges and red grapefruit for snacks. Baked beans on toast is a common meal. I make a protein shake, every day, that would stop a horse, probably keeps me alive, certainly makes my nails grow at a rapid rate. I consider a climate-controlled apartment in town, how my life would be different, being comfortable, not worrying about firewood, fiddling with the thermostat. I don't have a point to prove, I'd rather be comfortable. Even the argument that the natural world is what appeals to me seems pale in comparison to the comfort I might enjoy. If I sold my land and house, started drawing Social Security, I could be set for the rest of my life. On the other hand, it is living in the natural world that has always been of the most interest to me. What attracts me, takes my attention, always the fox over a house band. Just the way I am, born in the deep south and raised so poor that if we didn't make jelly there would be none.