Pounding heat

28^th June 2013

Dear Cassi,

       

The pounding heat came back today and reminded me of the harshness of California summer. I remember in times past before I started to buy all my fans when the pounding heat would make my skin weep with perspiration and so anything I lay upon would be stained.

       

There is a stench to humanity in this heat and a lazy nature that pulls the hours into an abyss of red. In this heat the working of fine tools is impossible and any paper handled will become marked with the fluids of the handler. This is the time I dread the most over the year as even the bitter nature of winter cold cannot paralyze  a body so completely. Often there is little I can do but let the fan blow air across me as I sit in bed stripped to the waist and nearly dead to the world.

       

The nature of this heat comes not so much from the world but from the building in which I dwell having had the insulation deteriorate over the years. The dark roof traps the heat of the sun and presses it slowly into the house. I often take a panel out of the sealing and let a fan blow air up into the attic.

       

What I need is insulation. What I really need is a better job so I can pay for insulation.  What I have needed for the whole of my life is a family that will support me in searching for the better life I seek.

Funny how the heat means so much,

Richard Leland Neal