Heat wave in New York

You can't count on the weather when you plan a vacation, and thinking back on the last couple of months I am led to wonder if this was ever more true in the U.S. than in the current year (I'm thinking about the folks who have suffered through floods and tornados recently). My own experience of unusual weather has been pretty minor to-date. For example, the morning I left the Bay Area last weekend on my way to a work-related meeting in the Washington, DC area, it was raining. It doesn't rain in the Bay Area in June. Except when it does.

Post-meeting I'm spending a few days in New York for some R&R. I didn't have a lot of plans for Wednesday, I had a few last things to attend to for work, then I thought I'd just knock around the city a bit and decompress from a fairly intense several weeks on the job. Little did I know New York would be in the throes of a heat wave when I showed up. CBS is reporting that the current heat may shatter records that have gone unbroken for seven decades. Ouch!

I'm staying out on the east edge of Alphabet City, and thought I'd take a walk along the East River, nothing strenuous, just down as far as the Williamsburg Bridge. Not a bad idea: there was a breeze along the river. Still, it was hot as all get-out. I think I have a new appreciation for what the word schvitzing really means.

Today? It's supposed to be worse. I think I'll hang out in art museums. That way I'll enjoy the benefits of protections extended to the paintings...