One of the greatest things about living in really hot places, places where ceiling fans and screen doors just won’t cut it, is that wonderful transition you get when you move from an uncomfortably air-conditioned interior (i.e. every supermarket in Sacramento) to the sun’s anvil (parking lot). For about 45 seconds the heat lays on your arms like a towel fresh from the dryer, comforting and pleasant—then the hammer drops to the anvil and you’re wishing you needed to go back inside to buy more frozen peas.
If you don’t feel like going in and out of commercial buildings all day maybe you could try reading one of the following books to mentally regulate your temperature, or at least make you feel grateful for the heat:
Ethan Frome by Edith Wharton –This is a brilliant book, but brutal. You may never go sledding again. Consider yourself warned.
White Fang by Jack London –It has been awhile since I’ve read this but I seem to remember more than one variation of the so-cold-spit-freezes-before-it-hits-the-ground theme. Also along those lines—this awesome video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZGjwe-BCfms&feature=fvwrel
Game of Thrones by George R. R. Martin –You know the drill, “winter is coming” etc.
30 Days of Night by Steve Niles –Graphic novel series set in Barrow, Alaska in deepest winter—basically Disneyland for vampires.
So, what is your favorite chilly read?
Oh, by the way, all Sacramento Public Library locations are air-conditioned…
