{"id":37,"date":"2006-08-01T19:04:28","date_gmt":"2006-08-02T00:04:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.silkentent.com\/Trees\/2006\/08\/01\/eight-one\/"},"modified":"2014-08-04T19:07:36","modified_gmt":"2014-08-05T00:07:36","slug":"eight-one","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.silkentent.com\/Trees\/?p=37","title":{"rendered":"Eight One"},"content":{"rendered":"

August 1, 2006
\nTuesday<\/strong><\/p>\n

I wrote a note to myself this morning, putting “8\/1” at the top. Then I got into my car and noticed that the outside temperature gauge reported that it was 81\u00c2\u00b0, the time was 8:11, and the odometer reading was 818181. I drove to a nearby office to transact some routine business, and when I got into my car again I noticed that the temperature had climbed to 83\u00c2\u00b0, the odometer now read 818183, and it was 8:33.<\/p>\n

That’s a thing that makes you go hmm<\/em>.<\/p>\n

I didn’t turn on the news last night, and I probably won’t tonight. I know what it will say \u00e2\u20ac\u201d there’s still chaos in the Middle East, Mel Gibson has made a fool of himself, and it’s hot.<\/p>\n

Really hot.<\/p>\n

Those 81\u00c2\u00b0 and 83\u00c2\u00b0 readings are misleading. My car sits in a garage out of the sun, and the\u00c2\u00a0temperature is read\u00c2\u00a0by a sensor in a shaded spot under a fender.\u00c2\u00a0The fancy-schmancy atomic clock and temperature gauge we have in the kitchen samples the outside air from a device mounted under the back porch. It went to 88\u00c2\u00b0 today. The current temperature reading at the Harrisburg International Airport, a spot just north of\u00c2\u00a0the fortieth parallel,\u00c2\u00a0indicates that it is 91\u00c2\u00b0 just past 6:30 pm, with a “real feel” of 105.<\/p>\n

I wouldn’t know. Except for that early morning foray to conclude some business, I’ve been inside all day, where we keep the central air set at 78-80. We keep the shades drawn and we have a lot of protection from the heavy foliage that shields our southern exposure, so it stays very comfortable in here.<\/p>\n

Or so one would think. Since yesterday I have been experiencing some of the symptoms of heat-related illness. I’m feeling anxious about everything, even though there is nothing in my life to feel anxious about. I have a headache, I’m tired, and I’m\u00c2\u00a0feeling a certain degree of mental fogginess, not confusion exactly, but a sense of not being able to concentrate and feeling overwhelmed at the thought of tackling even a simple task such as\u00c2\u00a0packing the clothes I’m taking to Vermont that are already clean and folded and that I won’t need\u00c2\u00a0before\u00c2\u00a0I leave.<\/p>\n

I’ve taken all the\u00c2\u00a0recommended self-help measures. I’m eating well (Ron made a delicious stuffed zucchini for supper), keeping well-hydrated, and accepting the fact that certain things are not going to get done today and that I might not be able to procure another pair of Easy Spirit Rendir sandals (the most comfortable dress shoes I’ve ever worn).<\/p>\n

I am determined to post regularly\u00c2\u00a0\u00e2\u20ac\u201d the grand hope would be every day, something, somewhere, in some section of this site. This is an “I Had a Pork Chop for Dinner” post, so named because it is\u00c2\u00a0like the letters\u00c2\u00a0fiction writer Mona Simpson, in her wonderful short story “Lawns,” characterized as “just mundane, that’s all that’s new, I-had-a-pork-chop-for-dinner letters.”<\/p>\n

Except I had a stuffed zucchini.<\/p>\n

And it was good.<\/p>\n

And there were no eight-ones in tonight’s lottery numbers.<\/p>\n

Love it? Hate it? Just want to say Hi? Leave a comment, or e-mail me:
\nmargaretdeangelis [at] gmail [dot] com (replace the brackets with @ and a period)<\/em><\/p>\n


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