Who turned up the heat?

The warm wind sweeps through my hair as the humidity wells upon my forehead. The salt stings as it drains into the crevice of my eye. The pavement pounds below with each step. Aris, Focis, Carrollton. Front porch swings sit empty as the lawns buzz to the sound of a sprinkler. Waiting for the next spot were I will land into some of that gorgeous thing we call shade down here in the south.

This is my weekly neighborhood run. I started running when I was a little boy. I found little pleasure running alone as a kid, but the fun came when I got to run with my grandpa. He would call my name on a hot afternoon to see if I would jog along side him as we watched the lake water crash along the rocky shore. I remember counting the telephone poles that stood out in the middle of the lake wondering how they were placed there and where did it ever end. My jogs with him became habitual. Nothing was better than a late afternoon jog with the sun casting a long shadow of you and a cool breeze hitting as each breathe is exhaled. Even better than an afternoon jog was to run under the stars. My grandpa would tell stories. Fictious stories that even Paul Bunyan would say they are exaggerated. Still, they contained me on the journey. I would gaze upon the stars with wishes and grandeur of the way I wish things were.

Today, I sometimes dread my afternoon jogs. Especially after the weather changes for the summer. The heat my God the heat. I know that it is much hotter in other places like Mohave Desert, Phoenix, anywhere in south of the Tropic of Capricorn. I can't explain the humidity, you have to experience it first hand. It's something you will never forget. Spend one week during June, July or August here in the great city of New Orleans and tell me you don't hate it. I was never raised in the North, but they have no idea. I have a great idea for a new weight loss program. Take a month vacation here in New Orleans. Wear winter clothing, walk everywhere, don't eat the food, and talk like Kevin Spacey from Midnight of Garden of Good and Evil.

I can say one thing for sure. The summer is here too stay and I am not looking for to the afternoon jogs. Early mornings may be a little cooler. Not much, but a little.