no, it's the humidity

I haven't proved anything. The heat is brutal, but 100-plus degrees here is not the same as 100-plus in North Carolina (or New York, for that matter). No, it's the humidity. It's freaky hot here, but it's different. It's like being in a sauna without borders. My skin feels crisp. But otherwise, it's just not that bad. Now, once it hits 80 or so in North Carolina, the air conditioning goes on, you go inside for four months or so, and you emerge only for work and supplies.

It has been a long summer. But I have to say: In many ways, I feel better than I have in my whole life. My lungs are so strong now, after months of being at this oxygen-depleted altitude. (Although, if I go much higher into the ether, a short uphill walk leaves me panting like a dog.) I've dropped meat from my diet completely -- not even so much as a sliver of bacon or ham, the Homer Simpsonesque holdovers I just couldn't give up. (Processed pork. Mmmmmm.) I walk so much more now. I've still got far more around the middle, and the thighs, and the hips than I would like to have; but slowly it's falling away, and this pleases me no end.