Staying Home

My apartment is hot. I am not sure what it is about the alignment of this apartment with the sun, the way the building is insulated or whatever, but this building retains heat, far more than you would expect. The heat in my apartment is off, completely off, yet this morning I am sweating already from the limited sun shoving its way through the filter of overhead clouds.

Even in the depths of winter this apartment remains warm, heated as it is on all but one surface. I have people living below me, people living above me, people living on both sides, and a heated hallway on the inside. The outer wall, east facing as it is, gets plenty of sunshine and warmth, even on the coldest days of an Alberta winter.

Last year I didn't notice it, mostly because I wasn't here for the late spring and summer. Last year, in my last flinging attempt at something vaguely like normal, I headed out to my boat in May, then after coming home for a couple of weeks, returning to the sea again in late June, the first trip a preparation and trial run, the second the start of my summer sailing season. We all know how that ended. Even after the heart attack on July 4th, I was not ready to give up on my summer exploration so I headed to the East Coast on a 6 week driving exploration of the rest of Canada, financed by the sale of my boat. That put me back in Calgary in September, long after the heat of a prairie summer.

This year my disease has taken my boat and much of my financial capacity. Thanks to the generousity of a friend, I am headed to Europe in June. After that it will be a return to summer in Calgary, with weddings to attend and Stampede making the city one giant party in early July. August will be hot, mostly, although you can never be sure here next to the Rockies. I am going to have to buy an air conditioner to keep my place cool.

I am not complaining about summer; I love it. Nor am I complaining about hot weather; I love that too. I'm just getting used to the idea that places not by the sea, days not spent on the foredeck of my sailboat, weeks spent at home in the summer will be different than I am used to. Staying home during July and August this year is a first in many years. It's just another change that I have to get used to.