...The Temperature's Rising, It Isn't Surprising...

So I made Gazpacho last night. Cold tomato soup. So refreshing on a torrid day like the ones we've been having. Diced Italian style tomatoes, cherry tomatoes, spicy vegetable juice, garbanzo beans, diced cucumber, diced onion, beef broth, minced garlic, a little lemon juice and some fresh cilantro. Mix it all together and chill for several hours. Served it up with some corn chips on the side and a tall glass of ice-cold lemonade. There's nothing like it for beating back the summer heat. Cuz when the temperature starts pushing 100º, the last thing in the world I want is to tuck into a lot of hot food. No roast beef and mashed potatoes for this boy during the dog days, thank you very much. And I certainly don't relish the idea of cranking up the oven for several hours to bake a roast. If I'm gonna eat anything that has to be cooked, I want it done on the grill. Outside. Where it won't raise the temperature of the house even one degree. Other than that, it's cold stuff I want to munch on. Big chef salads. Cold cucumber sandwiches. And Gazpacho. I love the flavor, the way it tastes so summery and so cool, almost like dipping your had into a clear mountain stream, scooping up some of the icy water and splashing it on your face. It's SO good. It beats the heat.

Not that I overly mind the heat. I mind not being able to escape from the heat. Like when it doesn't cool down at night. That sucks. And I dislike humidity. I hate that feeling when you take a shower and before you're even done towelling off you're breaking out in a sweat again. That's what I left the South to get away from. That oppressive humidity. Now I'm right back in the thick of it. And I do mean thick. The very air seems heavy and hard to breathe in . It's like being under water. You can almost see the wind moving the air around. *shudder* Makes me cringe just thinking about it. I came up north cuz I thought I wouldn't mind dealing with the cold and the snow, cuz that meant I wouldn't have to deal with the heat and the humidity. But in lovely Massachusetts, I get to deal with both! What a blessing that is. Frigid cold, howling wind and deep snow during the winter months; high temperatures and oppressive humidity in the summer months. Why, it's the best of both worlds. Maybe I need to be even farther north? Or maybe I should move to New Mexico.

New Mexico has always fascinated me. Texas has too much attitude. Arizona just looks like a big cat litter box under a sun lamp. But New Mexico is gorgeous. All of the mountains and forests, Ship Rock, Carlsbad Caverns, White Sands, the pueblos. And the cities with all of their history, Santa Fe, Albuquerque, Las Cruces, Taos, Cimarron, Gallup. And the desert. Always the desert. Of course, I would only want to live there if I could do it the right way. None of these MacMansions in the suburbs. I'd wanna build an adobe house with 2-foot thick walls and a central courtyard with fruit trees and a fountain. And I wouldn't want a 9-5 corporate slave job. I'd wanna work from home so I can start and stop when I want, take a siesta after lunch, the whole nine yards. And I'd travel around and see all the sights too. Now that would be living.

But for now, it's another day of heat and humidity and corporate wage slavery. It's nice to dream though.