WHAT TO DO DURING A HEAT WAVE

We’re in the middle of another heat wave. We spend a lot of time trying to find ways to cool off. We have fans, and window opening/closing schedules, and a memorized list of public places with great air conditioning (bank ... library ... walmart ....).

I spend a lot of time in the nude (I’m topless right now - yeehaw!)

Yesterday we went to the coast, just because we knew it would be cooler there. Well of course, we also went because its gorgeous, but mainly, we went because it would be cooler.

We enjoyed a fantastic day, walking along the beach watching surfers and seagulls. We climbed over rocks to Mike’s favorite private beach. We looked in tide pools, we discovered sea urchins. We laughed at a mental bird who couldn’t decide to land. We scrutinized the ground for pretty pieces of sea glass, and shells. We took a few pictures, we admired the pounding waves. I wandered into the surf and got caught by a wave, we laughed, I rolled up my salty wet pants.

We had a picnic in the back of Gabriella (as in Gabriella Sabatini - Mike’s favorite former tennis player - who has now lent her name to our toyota tacoma truck). Gabby has a camper shell over her back end, so we can sit inside, completely enclosed. We backed into a parking spot, opened Gabby’s hatch, and climbed inside (does this sound twisted, or is it just me...?)

Anyway, ya, we had a picnic lunch inside the back of our truck, with the hatch open so we could enjoy a picture window view of the surf pounding on the rocks, and the gulls soaring over the waves, and the (courageous) wildflowers in the foreground that don’t let a “little” thing like the pounding California coastline stop them from flourishing their hearts out.

The day before yesterday, we drove to Howarth Park. We took the bikes, and our bathing suits. Howarth Park is a fantastic place with paths for walking/jogging/biking ... wild ducks and geese who enjoy a smorgasbord of a life ... woods ... secret places for people to fish in private ... picnic tables ... a choochoo train and a petting zoo for the kids (we don’t have one of those, but I’m just saying ... ) ... tennis courts ... baseball fields ... water fountains ... views of the California hills ... concession stores ... the list goes on.

We love Howarth Park.

We parked Gabriella, and unloaded the bikes, got the backpack figured out (what to take, what to leave in the truck, who wears the backpack and who gets to be free (I pretended to be fixing my shoelace so he would get impatient and just put the damn thing on so we could get going, lol).

...so cool to sail out of the parking lot on our bikes, up the path through the trees beside the first lake. People jogging, people walking dogs, family’s walking in groups, mothers pushing strollers.

We toiled up hills, and stopped, panting at the top, then sailed down the other side. Whichever of us was in front, pointed to things we saw, so whichever of us was behind would see - geese, a cute kid, blackberries that will be ripe soon, a guy in a kayak with his dog....

We pulled up at the swimming lake, chained our bikes to a picnic table, pulled off our clothes (we had bathing suits underneath), and entered the lake. It’s a man made lake with lifeguards around it, and roped off areas to keep non swimmers safe.

The water was warm. We swam, and played, and discovered all kinds of ways to exercise. Mike taught me how to go underwater without plugging my nose with my fingers, and I taught him how to do the splits while treading water.

We’re going again on Monday.