Weekend Update

Damn, I'm feeling uninspired. Tired, lethargic and generally blah. Could be because 14 hours of my weekend was spent in the car, driving from SF to Rosamond, then Rosamond to Venice Beach , then the next morning, Venice to Berkeley, and then home to SF after that. Not all in one day. We spread it out over two. But still...that's too much driving.

And the I-5 between SF and Los Angeles...ugh, what a boring stretch of freeway. Vast stretches of farmland, cattle herds, tumbleweeds. Billboards that proclaim Jesus is Lord and plenty of Bush/Cheney bumperstickers. Truck stops and fast food. And in the summer time, relentless waves of heat shimmering off the asphalt. And I gotta say that a year and a half in Fog City here has totally eradicated my ability to cope with heat. Dave and I were wilting flowers. Thank goodness for air-conditioning.

I remember a drive across country in the middle of summer that Brian and I made 15 or so years ago. We drove his Mustang. A great car, but it didn't have air-conditioning. We drove across the desert with a cooler full of ice, wrapping cubes of it in handtowels to stave off the triple digit heat. We were young and resilient. Trying that now would probably kill me. Or whoever I was making the drive with would kill me just to shut up my whining.

It was 108 in Rosamond when we arrived at 3:00pm. It was muggy too, which is a very special type of hell in the desert heat. The breeze started up around 3:30, but it was a good three hours before it cooled off enough to be bearable. I gave the tigers, Jasmine and Caesar, a cool shower with the hose when we made the rounds to visit the cats. Ain't a lot cuter sight than two full grown tigers frolicking in water, gotta say.

I had a great time despite the heat. No matter how much I complain about making the drive, every time I go to EFBC, it rejuvenates the part of me that feels old and depressed. How can I be blue when I'm petting a jaguar? Very few people can say they've held a baby leopard or had a full grown one sit on their feet; I'm part of a small group of very lucky individuals and I'm continually amazed by the opportunity that working at EFBC has given me.

But damn, I'm tired.

So I think I'm just gonna curl up, watch the rest of DAWN OF THE DEAD (the remake), drink my mineral water (no wine on weeknights 'cause even a glass seems to be upsetting my sleep cycle...which is a bummer 'cause I do love my glass of wine at night), and not worry about being creative for the evening.