Escaping the Heat     

   Another Tampa, summer weekend was coming up - 90 degrees and humid. Where O' where could we go to escape the heat?

   We thought of cities that might be hot, but without humidity: Like Phoenix, 109 degrees; Tucson, 101 and Las Vegas, 107. Maybe that would work.

   We could go north: Duluth, 69 degrees; Seattle, 67, or Anchorage, 64. Perhaps that's too cool without time to get adjusted. Leadville, Colorado was expecting a high of 34. Forget-it-ville. 

   Let's consider low humidity places in the Middle East, we said. There is Baghdad, 108; Dubai, 105; Madrid, 104; Lisbon, 103, and Tehran, 101. But, long flights would defeat the purpose of a get-away weekend.

   Mexico City, even closer to the equator than Tampa, would have a high of only 75. We kept that in mind.

   We also considered the difference between day and night, to experience variety. Reno looked most promising, with a 37-degree swing between high and low. Also Helena, 36; Sacramento, 34; Casper and Spokane, each 31, and Billings, 30. No, we would have to take too many changes of clothes.

   Still undecided, with the weekend approaching, we came up with one more, crazy idea. Let's go to the moon. 

   So, we called our travel agent, but no spaceships were scheduled for the moon last weekend. It's just as well. In daytime, which lasts 13-1/2 hours, the temp reaches 253 degrees. During the long night it drops to minus 233 degrees, a 486-degree swing. 

   We would have to borrow astronaut suits, and miss JUSTICE Saturday night at 9 on Fox News. Worse yet, there is no view by the sea up there. 

   Dorothy was right. There's no place like home.

       Jimmy