Our First Hot Day

Today we visited some governmental land in front of beautiful sand dunes. We woke at 5:30 to venture out of our haven before we would have to face the heat. A man was absentmindedly blowing dried flowers off the side walk, despite the breeze and surrounding trees filled with dried flowers. We climbed the dunes as far as we could, many of us unused to hiking in shifting sand. We rested in the perfect green lawn, ringing trees in fans of feet. Then we made the trip back home.

It was our hottest day so far, around 108 degrees outside and 100 degrees in the trailer with its funky air conditioning. For many of us, our sleep the night before was complicated, restless, and deeply lacking in substance. Our fans shut off periodically to compensate for us all using the electricity, and the heat never dissipated despite open windows and doors.

We did very little during the heat of the day. We sat in chairs on the deck or did laundry silently and slowly, just to feel the water on our skin. Some sat in our mildly cooler rooms, listening to the music, working on projects, or sleeping to escape the heat, only to wake with a sheen of sweat and a headache. Some worked on the composting toilet before our late dinner, stabbing the ground with a shovel or perusing our materials.

We used so much more water than any day previous. We all drank more than a gallon in the past day. Some water we used just to keep ourselves cool. We soaked our clothes and put them back on, or wrapped wet kerchiefs around our necks or heads. Some of us took small towel baths, but the water was as hot as we were and dried quickly.

We are aware that our water usage is going to drastically change as the days heat up. We hope it will not cause us to leave earlier than planned and we will try to stay at Drylab for as long as possible.