May 7, 2025 Breaking News, Latest News, and Videos

My Dog Day of Summer

I usually don’t sweat the news about temperatures.  I live on the Westside, close to the Pacific Ocean, and it hardly ever breaks 78 degrees. Until yesterday.

I took my pup, Zoey, out for a walk yesterday afternoon.I was in Westwood.  I felt the heat immediately after walking out of my Uber-cool apartment. (that means temperature cool and “cool” cool.)  I wished to myself, “Please Zoey, please don’t turn left to do the longer walk”  She did. Shit.  This route had us climbing a hill half-way back.  

I secured my new blue face mask (that matched my blue sundress) and we headed along the route.  Things were going well.   There was a nice breeze and we were going down-hill.  Zoey was doing “her thing,” (both 1 and 2.) Once we started going up-hill, that’s where the trouble started. 

The sun was directly in our faces. I started to get really, really hot.  I looked down at Zoey.  She was slowing down, as was I, and looking at me painfully.  She’s kind of a princess—a Maltese with long, white fluffy hair, always coiffed.  Everyone who meets her thinks she’s the cutest thing; she has a personality to match. I taught her everything she knows.  So I knew that she was in the same shape as I was.  

We got to the top of the hill, and felt the cool breeze again.  We made it!  We both heaved a sigh of relief.  By this time, my face mask was soaked in sweat, and I couldn’t breathe. I pulled it down from my face to get a couple of deep breaths. Zoey did too. She doesn’t have to wear a mask; lucky her.

We made it back to my place.  There is a flight of stairs we had to climb before we could get into the house.  I wanted to go fast so I could get it over with.  But Zoey was stubborn; she refused to go.  After a few minutes of push-pull between us, she eventually gave up and trotted up the stairs, both of us using every bit of energy we had.

Once the door opened, we were welcomed with a gush of cold air from the air conditioning that I keep a cool 72 degrees.  We collapsed on the cool wood floors after drinking some water; Zoey from her bowl, mine from a bottle.  We laid there for about a half hour.  I got to thinking, was that walk safe?  How does one (or two) cool off in a short amount of time?  

I checked on line for some easy tips.  Here is a list of the top ten:

  • Take a cold bath or shower. It lowers your body temperature quickly.
  • Hose off.  If a shower is too far a way, find the nearest garden hose.  I’ll remember this one for next time.
  • Grab an ice pop.  I had some lemon ices that Zoey and I shared.  I located them deep in the corner of my freezer.  Woo hoo!
  • Sit in a raft in your pool.  Zoey loves to play ball in the pool.  
  • Exercise at a cooler time. I think I’ll start with this option first.  

Happy summer!  Stay safe, strong and cool!

in News
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