Friday

It’s been a long, hot summer. Long. Hot. Summer. Did I mention hot?

Before modern air conditioning was invented (by Willis Haviland Carrier in 1902), European nations considered Washington, D.C., to be a hardship post for their ambassadors. Summer in Washington was hot and humid. One hundred twenty miles to the south lies my small central Virginia town. Summers here are usually hotter than summers in Washington. In fact, summer temperatures here are often hotter than central Florida temperatures. Florida is helped by air off the ocean while Virginia bakes under air that has crossed thousands of miles of hot interior.

	Heat index = 115°. Sometimes it’s hotter.
	Sarcasm from Aliens: Frost: Hot as hell in here. Hudson: Yeah man, but it's a dry heat!

It doesn’t seem to matter how far north or south the location might be. One of the hottest places I’ve visited was Helena, Montana, in August. (Though Glacier National Park – same month, same state – was comfortable. So there’s an upside to having a glacier nearby!)

But on this September day there was a touch of fall in the air. The day was sunny, breezy, and 72° at noon. I went to Applebee’s Bar and Grill for lunch today. Instead of wearing shorts, I put on jeans for the first time since this summer began. 

I got to the restaurant early and there were no customers at the bar. Behind the bar, a waitress cut up lemons and pineapple for cocktails while the Friday bartender, Stephanie, pored over some papers – a work schedule, perhaps. I ordered a light beer and a house salad. The house salad is one of the healthiest items on their menu. In my humble opinion.

After a while another customer - a young black man - sat at the bar. Over his black T-shirt he wore a heavy gold chain with a large and flashy gold cross suspended from it. (Judging from the size of his cross, he must have been a very devout young man. Very devout.) As he sat down, he pulled out an iPhone and placed it on the bar. Soon a woman joined him (probably for prayer). They were the only other customers at the bar while I was there.

Oh, remember in my last blog entry the gal who said she was bitten by a jellyfish - which caused me to question, “Since when do jellyfish have teeth?” She was here today, waiting tables. In fact, here is the actual photo of the jellyfish taken seconds before it attacked and bit her. Jellyfish experts I have spoken with say these attacks are rare. She is expected to make a complete recovery. 

 

A photo of the rare toothed Jellyfishicus Dentalarius.