UNRELENTING

"Mama, it's hot", declared Cinnamon at bedtime.

"Can we turn the fan on?", she asked. The heat is unrelenting tonight and shows no signs of cooling anytime soon. With it being 31C (87F) inside and 28C (82F) outside, tonight is the first time I opened the windows in hopes of a gentle breeze to ease the discomfort.

The air conditioner never seemed to work well since I moved in, despite my efforts at adjusting the controls. Another issue is at play - unknown at the moment. The simple solution would be to call the landlord, albeit the stubbornness of my nature prompts me to pursue the avenues of troubleshooting myself before resorting to a call. The first course of action is to go to Home Depot and buy a new filter, as the current one appears far from the white it should be. I wonder when, if ever, the previous owners last changed it.

After school, Cinnamon took to reading "Green Eggs and Ham" again. Twice. She announced her great love of the book and read it with much emotion, making sure to put emphasis when exclamation points showed up. She told me she read the book on the way to school. I asked whether she read it out loud and saw a scene in my head of her doing so. She assured me she did not read it out loud and I was happy to know she was using her ride to school in a useful manner.

After reading, she continued the drawing of the cat she started in school, made another one, and worked on a calendar with multiple sheets of paper.

Sage did what he does best. Building puzzles. This old puzzle has 280 pieces and is one Oma had decades ago - one brought out of storage not long ago and shipped from Germany.

Sage can sit for hours sorting through pieces to find the one that fits. As a child, I loved puzzles as well and was able to get lost in them for hours. Now, I am cautious to start a new puzzle as I know I would lose track of time and find myself staring up at the window hours later, wondering where the sun disappeared.

At the moment, I would love the sun to disappear for a while. Until next year. Rain as a respite from the unrelenting heat is mere wishful thinking.