The Idiot’s kids may be walking on the Mediterranean Sea but he, after a few weeks on the breezy east coast, is trapped in a debilitating, triple-digit heat wave in Northern California.
The Idiot’s daughter Sonia and son Luke were walking on the Mediterranean coast above Malaga, Spain, during mid-morning in early July.
(Photo: Sonia Stratte-McClure)
The only time to kick off a “cool” walk during a heat wave is well before sunrise.
The Idiot began a coolish pre-dawn walk this morning (Tuesday, July 11)…
…under the light of the moon an hour before the 5:48 a.m. sunrise.
Once it’s too warm to walk a long distance The Idiot goes inside (everything, like in Saudi Arabia, is air-conditioned in Redding, CA) or hits the swimming pool to get additional exercise.
The Idiot arrives at an early morning spin class at the YMCA.
(Photo: Silas Lyons)
Then he strolls through the empty streets of downtown Redding to get some physical therapy for two tendon-torn shoulders.
The streets of Redding, CA, are empty at 6:15 a.m., still a somewhat sane time to take a walk downtown during a heat wave.
The Idiot sees more street sweepers and street sleepers than other walkers when he trudges through downtown Redding, CA, in the early morning.
The Idiot enjoys a dedicated workout with a therapist/trainer at Maxim Physical Therapy to strengthen his shoulders until 7:30 a.m.
Exercise on the sunny and hot morning ends with a change of shirts after a workout in the YMCA pool.
Although a heat wave is a good excuse to stay inside to research and write The Idiot and The Odyssey III: Alexander the Great Walks the Mediterranean, The Idiot forces himself to participate in social activities despite the heat. The sedate “people action” usually includes a movie (think Baby Driver, Beatriz At Dinner and the instantly forgettable Spider-man: Homecoming during the past week), a lunch and/or a dinner.
The Idiot has a weekly lunch with a pal at the Airpark Cafe, where he regularly orders his own dish. He calls it a “Yin-and-Yang” and it consists, apropos of the name, of a virgin hamburger patty and a vegetarian omelet.
(Photo: Ed McCarthy)
In the early evening, when the heat begins to wane, The Idiot relaxes on a balcony above the Sacramento River before a dinner party.
(Photo: Lynda LeCoe)
The just-completed home next door, located above the Sacramento River Trail, includes a fence crowned with razor wire that reflects a community concern about crime, vagrancy and the rising homeless population.
The Idiot is, of course, a party animal. He and his two 97-year-old dates were the first to arrive at the dinner party hosted by retired physician Ed Tam and his wife Irene.
(Photo: Lynda LeCoe)
The Idiot was his 97-year-old mother’s plus one at a monthly dinner party held to celebrate and toast “The Best Neighborhood In Redding.”
(Photo: Ed Tam)
The Idiot and his two 97-year-old dates were the last to leave the monthly dinner party held to celebrate “The Best Neighborhood In Redding.”
The Idiot, who never spends more than two consecutive weeks in Redding during the ludicrously hot summer, will enjoy a more tolerable climate during visits to the Pacific Ocean and Vermont/New York in July and August.
He heads to Tunisia in late September to complete his 20-year walk around the Mediterranean Sea.
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