“This is the time of year when concerned relatives call to check in. We saw that you’re living in the hottest place on the planet. Are you okay?
No, we’re not. No normal person chooses to stay in the desert all summer. You have to want the heat.
A FEW MONTHS AGO, I went on a ride-along with a Joshua Tree park ranger. The desert air was still cool, at least when I climbed into the ranger’s SUV at around 9 o’clock in the morning. By noon, it was just under 80 degrees. Which is nothing for me. I don’t even put on shorts until it’s 85, and even then, it’s a production. Tourists wear shorts when it’s 72, but desert rats, we cherish the two months or so of the year that we actually get to wear a pair of pants…”
