Billy Idol, Buster Poindexter and I have a few things in common – fame, fortune and we’re hot. Hot, hot, hot, hot in the city. Like so many cities this year, my city is on fire – literally. Between the heat and the actual fires, it is one warm city.
Oreggano and 4-oh-9, not deterred by fire, stopped by for a little city time and a little city time I gave them! I started by keeping the temperature of my house at a balmy 80 plus degrees (my thermostat is old school and doesn’t go higher than 80, so I’m guessing what we were seeing was not what we were feeling) – this was an easy feat, considering I don’t have air conditioning. City time continued when Oreggano went to the fridge, returned with two beers and said, “I found two of your random beers and figured we could sit on the stoop and drink them.” It isn’t a true day in the city with Oreggano if the agenda doesn’t include us drinking on the stoop and shouting out at the passersby.
Surprisingly, the stoop was cooler than my house. So, when I wanted to feel really refreshed, I would walk into the house/heat wave and run back out to the porch. It was like crossing the equator – exhilarating. Once we finished our beers, we decided to embark on one of our other favorite city activities, where we knew air conditioning would be provided – visiting hardware stores and friends.
After finding everything we needed and more at the store, we stopped by That’s Not Chinese’s house. She was babysitting her nephew who, sadly, was experiencing a bit of a diaper rash. “Could be exacerbated by the heat,” I told her and suggested, “Let his bum breathe for a minute. Babies, like most people, like to lounge naked every now and again. In fact, one of my favorite things to do is lay on the floor to cool down.” “Naked?” Oreggano asked. “I wear a shirt, in case someone comes to the door. I can totally answer the door without them knowing I’m not wearing pants – I’m like an anchorman.” “So you just lay on the floor half naked?” That’s Not Chinese asked. “Pretty much. I would do it here, but you’ve got cats, which would mean I would end up making a furball angel on your rug.”
Not in the mood to furball angel or have my eye swell shut again, Oreggano and I opeted to leave the air conditioning and return to the stoop, where more drinking, shouting out (aka, rebel yelling) and sweating ensued. Buster and Billy would be proud.