It has been very hot here, and my brain turned to mush. You know you're warned not to let a computer overheat, well, that goes for brains, too. The lizard brain was functioning, even enjoying the warmth, up to a point, but it, too, passed the point. So I anaesthetized myself with books, both e- and print. I read 1 3/4 new books on my e-reader and then it, too, got soggy or something. But print stays, if not crisp, then legible, and I read 2 more, all new. I always have new books ready to read. (Unlike clothes; I'll talk about old clothes soon.) In extreme cold or heat, one develops a siege mentality. I can afford to be besieged because I don't have to go out to work each day. I do have to go to my office, but not in this heat. Soon, though. My addiction to books in this case is useful; it gets me through the days, and nights. Years ago, in my Other LIfe, when my babies needed me, I had to ban books from my life for a while for the sake of theirs. I am not responsible when I'm reading. Time stops, Nothing in the external world, that is, outside the book, exists. That's very bad, if a baby is waiting to be fed or bathed or changed or sung to, whatever. I don't hear anything, either, so it didn't help if they cried out for my attention. I was on a subway train in Boston one time reading Henry James (Princess Casamassima) when suddenly a stranger was shaking me and shouting at me to get off the train. I had not heard several announcements that the train was being taken out of service. If it had not been for the kindness of that stranger I would have ended up in the car yards somewhere. Anyway, I'm back. It's still hot but I'm here.