Walk With Me Through Record Heat - Public Gardens and Downtown Crossing in High Summer

Boston has been deliriously hot for the past couple days.

We've been hitting temperatures in the mid 90s, with lots of humidity.

I love this weather! Here in New England, it only lasts for a couple days at a time.

Days like this are like a handful of gems, scattered across July and August, lost almost as soon as they are presented. While the people around me groan and pant and sweat, I'm feeling like I've finally come home to a place where the atmosphere doesn't want to kill me.

New England winters are brutal, and the spring and fall never really get that comfortable either. But right now things are just perfect.

People really dress down for this heat, and that makes for some fun photographs.

I generally don't. Although the jacket may stay home, I keep the shirt and tie on as I walk around the city. I'm grateful for it whenever I step back into an air conditioned building or train. It really amazes me that, a century ago, people wore full suits in this weather as a matter of course. And that was in the days before air conditioning!

Temperamentally - at least weather-wise - I should probably move to southern Florida. Or maybe central America.

But all of my stuff is here. Not to mention the people and the job and the city that I love. So I'll probably tough it out for 40 more winters and do my best to enjoy the heat when it comes.

These pictures are all from yesterday, which was muggy and mostly overcast. A nice breeze drifted through the urban canyons, laden with sweat and seawater and all the scents of concentrated living.

The streets were a little more empty than usual. I suppose a lot of people preferred to remain indoors, and a lot of others probably made their way out of the city for the 4th of July holidays.

I got a kick out of this young mother's summer outfit, as well as the man's tee-shirt proclaiming an unusual devotion to ice cream. I guess this was the day to celebrate it!

I really wanted to get a better juxtaposition of these women in full burkas with the sports-bra stroller-pusher, but this will have to do. Or maybe the one below. Two very different approaches to handling the heat, for sure.

I think I would have asked the man where to find the ice cream, though. It really wasn't fried dough kind of weather.

Anyway, they weren't the only Muslims walking around the city. I actually saw more burkas yesterday than I have in much more comfortable weather. Maybe they were practicing some form of penance.

But I guess, in this faith, the dudes get to be comfortable?

Let's hit the ATM, so we can go shopping.

The above strikes me as the summertime version of that scene from A Christmas Story where the kid licks the frozen pole and gets his tongue stuck. This might not end well...

You ever notice that some women never stop talking? What do you suppose she's going on about? Her next tattoo? Or how bloody hot it is?

How about that - I've baited women and Muslims in the same post. Who's next? Mall shoppers? Hand-talkers?

One thing will always remain constant, though. Hot weather or cold, long dress or short-shorts, people gonna roam out with their phone out.

Happy 4th of July.

Stay cool. Or hot, as you prefer!

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