Every summer the city builds up its warmth, then in rolls the humidity and glaring sun, and it all reflects off of the pavement and the buildings, intensifying and swelling in the narrow urban streets until the air is heavy and stagnant and the whole city becomes a bubble of sweltering heat. The summers here have a life of their own, well known and well documented over time as some of the most intense experiences on this coast. Everything slows down and heats up, a kind of wild energy spreads, the ice cream and the watermelon and the nudity and the outdoor movies and shows become the norm, and we all sweat.
And it all makes me feel especially alive, and Biet too, I think. The heat seems to not even phase her, my little city kid. Gaby, on the other hand, has a hard time. The man sweats, a lot, and this glorious season doesn't help much. He basically has a bottle of seltzer in his hand twenty-four-seven, and a fan always blowing on him inside, and lots and lots of ice cubes ready for beverages. And he manages to stay alive.
These days, we've been riding out the heat in the water. Biet is thrilled about now getting morning and evening baths. The girl is a little fish and would stay in there all day, if I let her. Our amazing neighbors downstairs set up a pool in the backyard too, so the kids have been living it up pool-party style. These days, we've been spending hours in front of the a.c. with either good music or a good book, stopping for ice cream every chance we get, and living in our sun hats. These days, our lives look a lot like this...
