Heat wave.

It's hot here.  Like, mid-90s.  Which, as a kid who grew up in Iowa, isn't strange for the summer -- but for these mountains, it's blazing.

Thankfully big concrete apartment blocks keep relatively cool in the summer, and the forests offer shady relief as soon as you step under their green, leafy canopy.  But mostly, people are wilting -- lethargic, sitting in the shade fanning themselves slowly.  The streets are almost abandoned, except for a few brave old ladies who are grocery shopping with umbrellas to keep the sun off.

It's hot enough that little boys strip down to their underpants and play in the river next to our apartment, jumping off the big flat rock (usually used to wash rugs) into the gentle ripples of the Jiu.  Today I saw an older man dragging his dog on a leash into the river, presumably to cool him down under all that fur.  I'd jump in too, if there wasn't so much trash caught in the weeds on the edge of the river.  Actually, I might jump in regardless.

So here's to summer!