More Heat

Hot today, but hotter tomorrow (102) then hotter still on Saturday (104) and I feel almost nauseous, sleepy and irritable. Thank god D got the second AC unit working, because it's pleasant inside the museum. I gather trash and clean out the refrigerators, against whatever wedding thing is happening Sunday, then clean and stock the bathrooms; docent the Garden Club through the exhibit. A late lunch, alone at the bar in the pub. When I get back to the museum TR and D are both missing, but TR's hat is there, which means he's in the building. I have some other things to do, so it's somewhat later that I find them, down in the classroom. They're planning a renovation. Nothing expensive, mostly moving things around and painting. It's a good plan, and it's cool in the basement. I still know nothing about the wedding on Sunday but I do know that it'll not involve me working Saturday. Just as we're closing up, the afternoon squalls are building to the NE but I drive out from underneath them with just a few spatters on the windshield, the driveway is dry. The house is very hot, 90 degrees, and it takes an hour and a half to get it down to 81; then, just when I start writing this, the power goes out again. I know exactly what it is as it follows a pattern. Rural electrification involves a great many sub-stations that branch off into the various hollows, when they get a 'trunk' lined repaired, they kill the sub-station so they can connect the new line, then turn everything back on. Usually takes an hour, what with the safety protocols. This often happens at the end of the work day for the repair crews. These guys are dedicated AND they're making a lot of over-time, so they want to get Pond Run, or Pond Lick, or Sand Lick Hollow back on line. Sure enough, in just about an hour my power is back on, but the house has warmed up and I have to cool it back down to 81 degrees, and the delays have interrupted my line of thought. Strip steaks were on sale, after the holiday, and I got a couple of small ones that I could just pan-fry; an over-easy egg on top, some left over baked potato, a piece of Texas Toast with horseradish jam. An after dinner smoke, and a couple of fingers of Irish Whiskey, I got deeply into a long article about restoring a mural in Venice. The technology is amazing. It was suddenly late and I needed a nap. Sometimes things don't go as you planned. My intention was to write a kind of set-piece about Carter's year in Europe, and I never mentioned him. Go figure. It was not so much that I needed a script, as I wanted to organize my thoughts.