Today's walk was a bit of an experiment. Is it going to be feasible to take my lunchtime walks during the dog days of summer? Today is was close to 90; in August, it'll be over 100. But the trail has a lot of tree overhang, and it's always a little cooler next to the water, and there are like 10 water fountains along the way....
None of it mattered except the water. Thank God for the water. I stopped at every single fountain and water stop, and drank DEEPLY -- I estimate I downed a half gallon of water on this walk, and I never had to go the bathroom. The only other time I can remember this happening was at a Rufus Wainwright outdoor concert at Stubbs Barbecue several years ago, on an August night. Even Rufus wondered if he needed to get a new agent. I gulped water after water, and it just leaked out through my pores.
I also felt myself petering out at about marker 3.75. I didn't make note of the time when I left, but I'd wager I was gone closer to two hours than 1.5. My boss is patient, but he is not endlessly patient.
So I've been thinking of alternatives. Even the nights in the summer can be brutal, and it appears I have all but lost my appetite for 5:00 a.m. walks. What about a gym? I hate joining a gym, they're expensive and I'm not crazy about treadmills, but these Texas summers are unbearable. Here's what I've been thinking: around the first of June, approach all the gyms in a 10-mile radius, and ask fetchingly if they would consider a one-week trial membership. Wear out that one, and move on to the next. I could get a couple of free months that way. That is how cheap I am, and that is how hot it gets.
Speaking of barbecue -- yes, Artz has closed, and filed for Chapter 7. Their take-out has been part of my family's dinner rotation for the past 18 years. Somehow it was appropriate that I showed up on the day they closed.
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