How hot is it?

It’s 102° here, currently. With heat index, it’s 115°. I think that’s sufficiently hot, thank you.

The Red Line (train) in Boston has been slowed to a maximum speed limit of 10 miles per hour. The track has heat kinks. The rest of the lines are reduced to 40 miles per hour.

Horse racing has been cancelled.

Area dairy farms have reported that milk production has all but stopped. Cows don’t produce much milk at these temps.

Heat emergencies declared in several area towns. Outdoor crews aren’t outdoors because it’s life threatening.

Area schools that don’t have air conditioning either cancelled summer school classes or called them optional.

The New England Patriots pushed back their first practice today. Too hot. Live players are a bonus.

Fenway has set up misting machines to cool fans at tonight’s game. More than 100 people suffered heat related problems at the game yesterday, which wasn’t as hot as today.

I walked out on the deck and I could almost hear the sizzle on the bottoms of my bare feet. I actually burned them. That was fun. I put a blanket down on the deck floor so that when Terry went out she wouldn’t burn the pads on her feet. Not that she wanted to go out and she didn’t stay out a second longer than necessary.

Did I mention that the humidity is high? It’s almost impossible to breathe outside.

The electric grid is severely stressed with more load than ever before. So far we still have electricity, which is kind of impressive. I’m trying not to be too greedy with the electricity. I have the air conditioning going, but it’s set high. The house is about 85° and if that starts to feel too hot, I just go outside for a minute or two. Walking back in the house feels like walking into a refrigerator.

This is horrible. But tomorrow will be better.

For people who have been enduring this kind of heat for several weeks, I seriously feel for you.