Hot, hot, hot
Antarctica is looking pretty good right now.
Sure, we know that in Kansas hot summers come with the territory. We expect to get a little warm come June, July, and August.
But more than 100 degrees? Nearly every single day?
This is getting ridiculous.
Even Merrill Teller, the faithful weatherman on Channel 12, rarely has good news.
But right now, as I'm writing this column, I pop over to www.accuweather.com, and wow — the forecast says that temperatures won't cross 90 this week! That Tuesday might only reach 79!
Yeah, right.
Time to head back into the AC.
(Wednesday update: The weather was downright pleasant yesterday, I have to admit. Call me completely shocked.)
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Sometimes the most unexpected things can be fun.
Case in point: Last Thursday, at the Marion County Record office, I walk in the back door to see Ronnie Davis, Melissa Parmley, and Melvin Honeyfield strolling in circles around a concrete table.
It's a strange sight. So I think to myself — has the heat finally gotten to me? Am I hallucinating?
Neither. The three are putting together, by hand, the pages for a school calendar. And the method of choice is picking up the "pieces" and putting them in order while circling the table.
Even stranger is this: They're having a good time.
Melissa has convinced Ronnie that they're in a NASCAR race. So they're competing for "laps" around the table.
When I join in, I'm really slow, so everybody laps me. But soon I'm holding my own.
It was the best time I'd had all week.
Sure we were working, doing this menial manual labor that required little thought. But we were also having fun, and that made all the difference.
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A couple weeks ago, two people from Missouri and Pennsylvania each picked the winning number for the $261.3 million Powerball lottery ticket.
That's a lot of dough.
Now I'm not a lottery-ticket buyer myself; I don't gamble. But I wouldn't mind too terribly if somebody decided to give me a couple hundred million dollars.
Actually, I know exactly what I'd do with it.
First, I'd buy my own private jet and hire a pilot. That way I could travel anywhere at any time.
Then I'd build a house for my mom, one with a huge backyard for many small dogs to run in. And I'd take a trip around the world, see every place I've ever read about. And build a gym for my former high school.
Sure, they're just dreams. But they're fun to ponder during a lazy summer afternoon.
What would you do if you had all that money?
— JENNIFER WILSON
