Eric is cooling off in Rhode Island where it is only 94 degrees, which is what Phoenix was at, um... 4 am. I think P. topped out at 113 today. Just read that Death Valley may actually hit 130 this week. It came close a few years back at 129.3 degrees. The record, at 134, is thought to be an erroneous recording back in the 1930s.
Eric emailed me today, and is celebrating his daughter's 20th birthday up in RI, where she's in college, I think.
Speaking of Arizona's heat, I've done a number of cultural stories on what kind of baseball fans come to Seattle, where half of the tickets sold go to fans of the visiting teams. The Mariners are known as a "magnet team," meaning that they don't have a local fan base like most teams, but rather attract baseball fans who have moved here - like a Yankees fan like me - or have allegiances developed before the M's got to town a couple of decades ago.
One family surprised me - they flew in from Phoenix to watch a three-game set between the Mariners and the D-backs. When I asked why, the papa told me that it's the only time he gets to see his team play outdoors, where it "feels like baseball." It was 75 degrees and he was working on his tan... I loved it.
I also interviewed fans of the Blue Jays, Athletics, Red Sox, and Yankees. It's all at the MN. As a working journalist I sat with the WAGS - Wives and Girlfriends. Right behind home plate. LOTS of blondes, if ya catch my drift...