And The Living Is Easy

Summertime, here at the fake ruins in Tower Grove Park. (Yes, it was built that way on purpose.) Many people love the original of this beautiful song from Porgy and Bess. However, I am partial to Janice Joplin's version. Few singers can approach her intensity. 

It's already hot here and the official first day of summer is over a week away. It could be a bad one.      

It's Too Darn Hot

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To its great credit, Citygarden lets people soak in its ponds and fountains rather than putting up "No Swimming" signs all over the place. That was an act of charity yesterday when the temperature was 98 F / 37 C.

Some of my clients do not have air conditioning. In fact, a fair number don't have electrical service. There have been a few heat-related deaths in our city. Other cities have had worse. I was 104 F / 40 C in New York City on Friday and 108 F / 42 C in nearby Newark, New Jersey. It never hit 100 F when I was growing up in NYC. And lets not even get to Arizona and down that way.

I'm 61. Sometimes I wonder whether I had the random fortune to hit human civilization at its apogee and that the general trend is downhill from here. No one knows yet. Let's keep taking pictures and leave a record.

It's Hot

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We've had a pretty miserable summer. I know, there are lots of places that are worse but we like to complain about it anyway. In this picture, a produce vendor at Soulard Farmers Market needs towel to soak it up.

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In The Good Old Summertime (Citygarden)

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I wonder if the people who planned Citygarden foresaw how parts of it would be used as a public swimming pool for children. The authorities clearly don't object, so perhaps this was part of the plan. It's one of the many reasons the place has become an instant hit with St. Louisans.