It's been unbearably hot since the second week of July.

Without air conditioning, the temperature in the house is sometimes 30 degrees when we go to bed. And that's after it's cooled down. One particularly sweaty night, with all the fans on, I dreamed I was eating salt out of the salt shaker, pouring it right onto my tongue.

During the day, the girls mostly just want to stay home. They are spending every spare moment drawing at the kitchen table and running back and forth to the neighbor's house. And the truth is? I like staying home too. I love not having to plan as many things, not having to rush out to gymnastics and school.

But sometimes, after lunch, when the thermometer in the house says 32 degrees, I actually get confused about what to do. I'm learning that the only thing TO do is to pack things up and walk down to the beach. As we approach the water, we can feel the wall of heat lift. We're starting to get to know a lot of new people - people we've never met before, but who live in this neighborhood not far from us. At the water, I lose track of time. The girls play and swim and the grade of the sand is not very steep so we can walk all the way out to the buoy and back. Sandcastles take awhile. And before we know it, it's way past supper time.

Since the forest fires have begun, there's been a lot of smoke in the air. In the mornings, there is a thin layer of ash on our patio table. Everyone is waiting for it to rain. In the mornings, I get up and think it's clouded over finally, but it hasn't. It's just smoke now, getting thicker so that today it's completely blocking the sun.

I'm eating fresh blueberries from a roadside stand. Mmmmm....