I am an inveterate traveller, but it is always nice to come home. I can only take New Orleans in summer in little bits. I'm home now briefly before heading out to Santa Monica and it's cool ocean breezes - but for the moment I'm home and basking in the fecundity of the deep south in July. The air is moist but very soft. The crepe myrtles are blooming and the impatiens if you look after them carefully. The morning air is almost cool, but the minute the sun appears overhead, it's time to head indoors. How they braved summer here before the air conditioner, I'll never know. Actually, I should know as I think that in my earliest days, there was very little. I've forgotten or perhaps children don't feel the heat in the way adults do. All I know is that it is a lifesaver . There is a downside though which comes from the fact that it cuts one off from the out of doors . Hence the flight to California where I will be reunited with the natural world. I am leaning into it even now.
