summer sun, summer fun?

today at 11:00 am i got the brilliant notion to walk to our neighborhood park with mckinlee and swing. i don't know what came over me, it just sounded like a fun thing to do.

we made it to the corner before i realized this might not be the best idea i've ever had. it felt, in mckinlee's wise estimation, like it was 200 degrees. (i told her i'd set the oven one day at 200 degrees and she could tell me if it felt the same.) we got down the street to her school where the shade of a small tree there was our oasis for a few seconds. the park was in view and we couldn't turn back. we'd come so far.

as we made our way to the empty swings, mckinlee would stop and make me feel her sweating head. "ooohhh~that's what i've always wanted to do" i told her. i'm compassionate like that.

finally we made it to the shaded pavilion of the park. we proceeded to cover ourselves with the lukewarm water of the park water fountains. no blast of air conditioning has ever felt as good as the warm breeze on our watered limbs.

mckinlee ran off to climb on the monkey bars while i relaxed on the picnic table. after a couple of minutes, we decided we were ready to swing. we lowered ourselves to the black plastic straps of the swing. that lasted precisely 15 seconds. i need to check, but i'm pretty sure i have permanent burns on my rear.

our walk home was a sort of desperate treasure hunt for the shade of anything bigger than a petunia. at one point, i thought i might have to run home and come back with the car for mckinlee to make the last 5 yards. she informed me that even though she was the fastest girl in her class for the past two years, she was also the one who got the most exhausted from the heat. hey, success comes with a price.

at this moment it is 12:05 pm. i'm cooling down at the computer and mckinlee has flailed her red faced-overheated body on the landing upstairs. every once in a while i hear a moan come from her.

we won't be walking to the park again in the blazing sun anytime soon.

however, along the way mckinlee told me about an illustration she remembered at an assembly a long time ago. so it wasn't all bad.

(in case you're wondering, these pictures were taken last week and for some reason it didn't feel like we were wandering in the sahara.)