Hot enough for yah?

June was difficult, weather-wise, for me. So difficult, in fact, that I decided to bike commute a bit less often and ramp down the backyard weight lifting. The heat had already more or less ended the evening dog walks, so nothing changed there.

While I've gone ahead and reduced the intensity of my workouts, I'm still spinning along mindlessly on the bike nearly every weekday. Yesterday was some sort of milestone of arduousness; it was hot and humid, the westerlies were trying to push me back down the climbs, and - this is new - I was huffing wildfire smoke from the Baboquivari Mountains west of Tucson.

It reminded me very much of my tenure as a bike commuter in Sacramento, CA, where the lack of vertical relief was more than compensated for by the summer season's ozone-addled air and smoke from the incessant grass fires. It was one spare-the-air day and health advisory after another. The whole city smelled like a parking garage full of idling, poorly-tuned POS cars, and I rode right through it all. Oh, and Sacto lacked the one thing that brings relief from summer's hell fire - a monsoon season. No rain, no relief.

It rained here on the Left Side this morning, by the way. It wasn't much more than a sprinkle but if it had been any more intense, I might have been running around in it half naked. Or all naked. The first good rain each summer tends to have that sort of effect on us desert dwellers. I'm surprised that more of us aren't killed by lightning. At any rate, I'm still waiting for the rain, the real rain.

So, can you tell from my tone that the June mini-vacation did not involve any trips to the high country? Yeah, I definitely want a do-over on that one. I still need to experience shade, the whoosh of wind through the pines, and nighttime temperatures below 85 degrees. And like soon, man. I'll be sure to share when (if?) I manage to drag a bicycle, fishing rod, and/or pair of binoculars into cooler climes.

Oh, and as a side note, I am very aware that it is this hot weather that keeps Tucson's winter visitors from becoming locals - maddeningly slow-driving and dangerously inattentive locals. The summer heat empties the city, and for that I am truly grateful. There's barely enough freezer space for these snowbirds as it is.