How hot was it?

It was so hot in New York City today that, when I started heading down the stairs, as usual, to go back to my office after visiting another office, because I'm too impatient to wait for the elevator, I turned right back around and waited for the elevator, because, when I opened the stairwell door, it felt as if I were stepping into an oven! (In numerical terms, it was about 90 degrees Fahrenheit/32.2 Celsius).

On the other hand, here it is, mid-August, and this is the first hot spell we've had. It's been a relatively cool and very wet spring and summer. I think we've had at least one day of rain every week since April. (We consider ourselves extremely fortunate to have had a sunny week at the NHC Institute--sloshing around that campus in the rain would have been thoroughly unpleasant, especially with all the goose poop.) I wish we could send a quarter of our rain to California, where it might help prevent those wildfires, and another quarter to Israel, still suffering from drought. Rumor has it that local crops are being ruined by the excessive rainfall. Yes, Virginia, there's such a thing as too much of a good thing. :(