I was prepared to share the opening of Grandma's Garden with you. I had brand new small shovels and spades; my brain was filled with images of small hands digging in the dirt.
We would have liked that post, if the kids had showed up.
We are having an unseasonably warm August; our temperatures have been over 100 for the past few days and it doesn't seem to be getting any cooler in the foreseeable future. On Extreme Heat Days, the scholars don't go outside for recess. They watch movies or play games in some of the larger classroom, under the watchful eyes of the monitors, while their teachers enjoy lunch and a brief respite from the chaos that is the first few weeks of school.
Grandma was not needed.
It was vaguely unsettling to be plan- less at 10:30 in the morning. I'm usually somewhere in my exercise cycle in the 10 o'clock hour. Instead, I was wearing my Red For Ed t-shirt, standing in the Prince parking lot, wondering what to do.
It was too early for lunch and too late for breakfast. I took the long way in a homeward direction, choosing to drive across the construction zone that used to be River Road, the fastest way across town. I'm sure it will be beautiful when they're done. Now, it's a time suck.
I needed a time suck. I didn't know where I was going.
So, I admired the work the crews were doing, tearing the roadbed down to the soil below. For a while in their youth, I told The Cuters that I wanted to work on those crews, that driving those machines and holding those orange flags looked like a lovely way to spend a day. Today, I laughed with them in my head as I watched those workers outside in the Extreme Heat Day. I really don't want to change places with them any more.
I dropped my Postcards To Voters at the post office and debated getting a sandwich to take home. I opted for groceries at Whole Foods which I sped home to put in the freezer and the fridge before the Extreme Heat Day destroyed them. Even a cooler bag struggles when the inside of your car resembles an oven on Roast.
And now I'm home. I had yogurt and granola. I read some of Ruth Ware's newest oeuvre. TBG and I talked about families and travel and getting old. I typed to you. And it's only 1:06 in the afternoon.
It's a bonus day. I'm going off to fill it.
Excessive heat here in Fresno, too. 107 forecast for today and cooling centers are open for the homeless and those without adequate ac at home. Our schools, though, have lots of trees for shade and lots of grass to keep things cool for kids at recess. They have to stay indoors when it rains, and that's bad enough. I heavily watered our yards this morning to help keep the place cooler, especially for the cats who seem to relish lying about, outside, in the heat.
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