Heat Stroke Diary #34876: The Summer of 2022 and My Oscillating Fan is on High Alert

In this post, written during the 2022 heat wave, I wonder if I have ever done anything special. And hope that I have.

Collage of the Author Created During the Heatwave of 2022.

I’m sweating more gallons of perspiration than the amount of water H.M.S. Titanic took when she sunk. I’ve been half-baked, sun-kissed, and afflicted with the worst case of swamp ass this side of the East River. But thank you, @holderandolder, for the postcard. Invigorating! @elledeewhy We are going to walk again soon. @dyspraxic_nightmare You inspire me daily even though I think Hailey Mills did a better @disney Parent Trap than @lindsaylohan. I still haven’t caved and installed a window unit in my living space. I’m reading many different texts, including Ralph Ellison’s Invisible Man. It’s my second read of the novel, and this time, I’m paying attention to the love it gives New York City. I just finished the part when the narrator seduces Sybil In the hopes of finding more about the brotherhood. I noticed how many sickening times Sybil calls the narrator “beautiful.” By sheer happy stance, @moma has a new exhibit visualizing the spaces and locales of the novel.

I can’t wait to see it. Even when I was poorer than I am now, I found time to visit museums. I download an app that calculates monetary worth. I am worth six-hundred dollars, according to my net worth calculator. My heirs, please spend it wisely. Still, I’m hoping I’ll follow Socrates, who said his most considerable success in life wasn’t amassing wealth, and he pissed off some Athenians. I realized today I’ve never done anything special in life. But let me tell you — you’d never believe I can make a perfect bowl of beef & pork noodles. Stay well, Homo Sapiens!

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Feeling Kinda Heated in a Heatwave — A Solo Adventure to Washington State (And How I Was Almost Stuck Without a Ride at a Safeway in Monroe)

In this post, I recount moments in my solo adventure to Washington State during a historic heatwave — a brief stop in Seattle, and how I managed to get back to my hotel in Skykomish (after missing the last bus). Read on, readers!

Feeling heated in Seattle

The theme of my post is weariness. I hiked, and I walked, and I explored random parts of Seattle. Do you see the face of Greig? He’s bone-weary.

I’m not used to such locomotion. But I feel like the photographs capture the mood of the day — sultry, hot, relentless. A boy on the bus this morning played a Schecter electric guitar. And then told me a rational argument for gun ownership (although privately, I think to myself I’d never owned a firearm).

A Glorious Patch of Wild Flowers

Seattle is beautiful. I shop for groceries in the Safeway in Monroe. I miss my bus to Gold Bar — and thus miss my subsequent connection to Skykomish. It’s 10 p.m., and I’m stuck on a hot evening somewhere near Highway 2. In front of the Safeway, a gentleman has a long conversation with another guy — he looks like a professional hiker. I ask them for a ride to Skykomish. I’m lucky because one of the men lives in Sultan. And I’m given a ride back to my motel in the mountains.

At night the stars beam, and I feel restless. I consider the prospect of living in a rural area like the mountains of Washington State — “Fun to visit. But I prefer New York.” I gather my things in the motel room — today, I board the train again.

Early Evening in the Suburbs

   

Bus Stop Near Everett

Where do you think I’m going next?

Click Here to Read Part V 

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That Weekend I Stayed in a Small Mountain Town in the Mt. Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest (along the Cascade Mountain Range in Washington State)

In this post, I write about why fantasy for the rustic life is really a sham. I'm not made for the mountains. But I liked my visit to Skykomish, Washington.

"Sheeeeeeshhhhh!"

The Empire Builder 
passes through
Skykomish

I found a rock to sit on to do some writing. When you arrive in Skykomish, Washington — you're in the middle of the Cascades Mountains. Because a railroad tycoon by the name of Stevens, built a railroad from Spokane to the Puget Sound — the place is smack dab in the middle of train history U.S.A.

Fishbowl

By the 1890s, the United States had already built a few transcontinental railroads — thanks to the unsung contribution of cheap Chinese labor — which the government tried to put a stop to with the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882. Even though Washington D.C. put a smackdown on immigration from Asia, the economy begged to open more portals to the West. A direct train route to Puget Sound. Open more trans-Pacific trade. But a train through the Cascades would prove to be a more difficult challenge. The mountains are a formidable presence — up to about 4,000 feet above sea level, which for a Louisiana boy, is a lot. I'm breathing air at high altitudes, refilling my bottle with water from the Foss River. 

Shoes Made for Walking?

Loving being outdoors — but dang, it's uncharacteristically hot today — the high is 90 ° F. Even the people who live here say that’s hot. Sitting by the river — I don't jump in, but I feel the coolness of the rock, and the water is ice cold to the touch. 

What’s your favorite picture that I took?

Click Here to Read Part III

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