heat wave

today it is a million degrees. okay, it's really 96.1 degrees, beating out a record of 95 set back in 1933. this may not strike you as odd. it is summer and that's what happens in summer. but not in brooklyn in june. we don't have the technology to deal with weather like this. brooklyn, unlike most modern cities, was build way back before electricity and not rebuilt. everything is old. our own little neighborhood was built at the turn of the last century, which means there is no central air. this is the time of year when new york city's notoriously small apartments finally pay off. it takes just one window unit to cool most of these 400 square foot places.

we are cursed with a large apartment. this time of year we must make choices. we have three window unit air conditioners. they're small and are only on when the rooms are occupied. we close off the rest of the house to maximize cooling in the area where we lie around reading, knitting or watching tv. this leaves the kitchen and bathroom sitting in still, steamy isolation. the trip to the fridge to get a drink is like walking through the mouth of a dog.

although most subway cars are air conditioned, you are never sure until you step on the car and the doors close. if you're lucky, you feel a little shiver because nyc transit takes air conditioning seriously. if you're not, you can smell the armpits of every one of the 200 people crammed against you in the car for your entire commute. of course, waiting for the train is just as exciting. my train travel involves an elevated train within blocks of the ocean breezes. no kidding. however, most train rides involve going into a wretched hole in the ground with none of the glamor or temperature control of a cave. it is generally at least 15 degrees hotter in a tunnel station than it is outside. so today is 96+15=111 sweltering degrees. now, that 111 degrees bakes in the urine smells and other fine aromas of the underground tunnels. this is not the most brutal part of the day.

i work in a public school. my classroom, like my apartment, is larger than i deserve. it is on a corner of the top (4th) floor and has two delicious window unit air conditioners. when i arrive tomorrow at 7am and the temperature and humidity are both hovering at 80, i will turn on both machines and shut the heavy wooden door. when my students arrive at 8am, they will say nice things about me, as will teachers on my floor and children i've never met who want to step into the room for just one minute. tomorrow we are planning to compete with 99 degree temperatures for the attention of high school children during the last week of school. none of the other classrooms on my floor have air conditioners. in fact, most of the classrooms in my school do not have air conditioners. although most classes have four or five tall (10+ feet) windows, most do not open, or have been modified to open a few inches to insure that children do not leap out. there are a few pedestal fans shifting hot air from one side of the room to another.

but, as i said, my classroom is a lush, cool exception. and these are the days my kids are on their best behavior. they will do anything to spend two hours with me. nobody asks to go to the bathroom or get a drink. nobody does anything that might require a walk to the sweltering dean's room. on rare occasions when it gets noisy, i tell kids i might need to turn off the a/c so i can hear. it gets terrifyingly silent. if you look closely, you can see their shivering bodies trying to store up the cold like a bear storing up fat for the winter.