somebody give me some ice

i've been back in Oklahoma for about a day now and all i can say is, people, it's HOT. i don't remember the last time i felt heat like this... walking in outside, you feel your skin sizzle. it's not like the heat we experienced in florence in the summer of 2002 where all you wanted to do was sit in a chair and just spray yourself with water in front of a fan.. that was unbearable. this is more like the feeling of hot, but bearable, sand under your feet at the beach.. but all over your body. it's a dry, biting heat. it reminds me of a trip to masada a couple months ago.. i could feel the heat of the sun reflecting up onto my face from the light colored earth below me. here i feel that same intense reflected heat, but coming from all directions...

so yeah... it's so hot that i have to keep aliyah inside most of the day..... feels a bit like being in the bomb shelters again....except for, well... the sirens and rockets.