2005-07-28 - 8:43 a.m.

...temperatures...

Hurrah! The temperatures have dropped. Yesterday I did not walk to work because of an air quality alert in NYC. I have already learned how bad the air is when there *isn't* an air quality alert. I did not wish to mess with my asthmatic lungs any further. Fortunately the bus, although air-conditioned to glacial temperatures, was rather bearable.

But today? Today the temperatures are a full 15degF cooler, and I am looking forward to a rapid jaunt.

I am talking about weather again. K says that my mother and I always talk about weather and food. Which reminds me, I made a fantastic cucumber salad yesterday, and a heavenly spinach-and-pasta dish. Lunch will be good today.

My mother has started writing little email notes to K. He finds them incredibly sweet. My mom does the same thing with my brother's wife - she is completely open to them, and naturally views them as part of the family. That is, she doesn't even have to "try" to include them. She just "does." K thinks that my mother and stepfather are two of the warmest people on the planet. Indeed, I am one of the few people I know who regularly calls her parents out of want and not out of obligation. My favorite memory from our trip to the River was sitting on the top porch with my parents and a bottle of wine, watching the sunset between our feet. If I knew how to attach a photo to my diary, I would include the picture of 8 feet and the setting sun here.

In environmental news, the EPA intentionally delayed release of their annual evaluation of automobile fuel efficiencies until AFTER the House of Reps had finished debating the new energy bill. The report shows that automobile manufacturers have managed to find loopholes that allow them to make even more fuel inefficient automobiles. For the love of the planet, people, get OUT of your sacred cars!! Make your FEET your form of transportation! Make your commute a part of your needed exercise. Get out of the GYM and go OUT.

And I now see that I have ten minutes to shower and get ready for work...