MONTEREY SUMMER

I hail from Southern California. "Hell" my husband called it after living through one particularly hot summer. A place where 10 days of 100F plus degree weather was common. In November. Heat is nothing new for me. I remember Summers and Autumns in SoCal where it was so hot you could do science experiments on the sidewalk. A "dry heat" the natives said. The kind of heat that sucked the air out of your lungs when you stepped outside your front door. The kind of heat you stopped, squared your shoulders, and braced yourself for at the door, just before you left the comfort of an airconditioned building. So you can imagine my amusement when someone told me that we were having a heat wave in Monterey. It was going to get over 70 degrees they said. Seventy? Seventy in Los Angeles is the temperature where you think, "gee, I'd better grab a sweater just in case I get cold." Over 70F in Monterey - next to the water? How hot could that possibly be? I remember my first experience when the temperature rose up to 83F degrees here, along the coast. Oh good lord. Women were practically naked. Men were showing off their pasty white, albeit ripped chests. I've never seen so much reflection off of bare skin before! Not a scarf to be found, nary a sweater in sight. Men and women were stripped down to the basics of summer wear, lounging by the water, trying to "cool off" in the oppressive onslaught of a mercury overload on the local temperature gauge.

I've lived here six years now. It is mid-March and we've had several days where the little red dot on the thermometer has gone over the three-quarter mark and has crept upwards toward the 70F line. I find myself wearing layers and sandals to work. I leave the house in the cool of the morning, only to be stripped down to the lowest acceptable level of business wear by noon. I find myself wondering if it is okay to turn on the fan in my office when the temperature gets above 60F. Is it hot in here? And I find myself wandering outside as often as possible. The heat warms my aching bones that stiffened up over the winter nights. Monterey heat puts a spring in my step and makes me want to head down to the harbor to watch the sea otters frolic in the ocean. The orange blossoms are in full bloom in the courtyard of my work and the sun shines through my window. I watch as the blue jay outside of my window builds her nest and it makes me think we've completely skipped spring and have moved right into a Monterey summer. Have you seen my flip flops?