July 31 - Hotter Than That

139th day of summer -- hottest day of the year thus far at 107 (89th, 45th, and 11th at 80, 90, 100-or-above), topping the recent locales of Buttonwillow 106, Yucaipa 94, Idyllwild 81...

The hundred count, odds above, evens below, at...

107 July 31
105 June 8-9
104 June 30, July 13
102 July 14, 26-27
100 June 10, July 25, 29

Compose page 16 of Sex and the Species,

and

take

the

13th

Bike-

Pool-

Spa

plunge of the season, the path still radiating heat after sunset -- warmest ever experienced in this capacity....

A very auspicious day, and very glad to be home with Harriet....

July 30 - Envoi Again

Out in the

wild blue,

extended coffee at

White Rabbit with

John, and

another fine time,

eventually

taking

leave

to

take

on

the

rest of the

grading for the DVC Summer 2014 Semester,

and, miraculously,

submitting same online, at a distance.

An extended process, but finally on the road,

discovering the culinary joys of Jersey Mike's Subs (reasonably authentic hoagies),

then

proceed

10 west,

angling

northwest

on

215

towards the Transverse Range,

merging into 15,

north into Cajon Canyon,

past the Lone Pine / San Andreas Fault and

the

surreal

undulating

lines

of

Mormon Rocks,

to the Ampitheatre and over the Pass,

395 into

the Joshua-Tree-strewn

Mojave,

the point-of-no-return

Kramer

Hills,

west on 58 past Boron,

into

the

Tehachapis,

windmills,

more

yuccas,

the

high

rocky,

expansive

Monolith

Valley,

lonely

vistas

rollercoastering

down

towards

Keene

Buttes,

darkness towards Buttonwillow, north again,

now on 5, Kamm Avenue once more,

580,

680,

collapsing into belated rest....