Beating the heat

It's been hot (upper nineties) and muggy of late, and since the AC is not working properly, we've been making do with fans the last couple of weeks.  Thinking about all the thousands of years that people managed before electric fans and AC makes me stand in awe of some of the things people did in spite of the heat.
Sometimes, it's actually cooler outside under the sycamore than it is inside, so yesterday I took a paperback and sat out in a lawn chair in the shade.  Doing some light reading in the summer heat made me feel like a youngster again.  My reading usually consists of news, commentary, and blogs on the internet.  Rarely do I just relax with a book.  Believe it or not, I had never read an Agatha Christie novel.  I came across one of her short stories in one of my son's literature books and realized I would probably enjoy her books.  Somehow, I'm thinking I, at some point, must have been misled  to think her writing would involve gruesomeness.  Anyway, my son picked up a paperback at a yardsale or thrift shop.  I got a chuckle yesterday when I realized the book was dedicated to me:

\<>/

TO ALL THOSE WHO LEAD

MONOTONOUS LIVES

IN THE HOPE THAT THEY MAY EXPERIENCE

AT SECOND HAND

THE DELIGHTS AND DANGERS OF

ADVENTURE

 /<>\

 

 

So I've been staying at the Ritz, eating at Lyons' and riding the tube, all while tracking down a mysterious letter of international intrigue that was passed on by a young man who went down with the Lusitania.  How's your summer?