Incredibly hot up here in my third-floor AC-free apartment. I'm not yet used to the heat this year. Even when I do get used to the heat, the way my body wants to deal with it is to lie about like a melty blob rather than working. Shoot. 'Cause I got a lot of work to do.

The weather and early light is also influencing my waking up around 5:30 these days. I like that, especially when it's full light so early. (I observed the solstice by watching and appreciating both the sunrise and the sunset.) The only problem is that I'm very hot and tired by noon-ish.

However, the very early part of the morning is lovely and begs to be enjoyed outdoors.

I have managed to increase my jogging distance to three-quarters of a mile. You fit types may well laugh, but this is a big deal for me: a person with exercise-induced asthma and raised primarily to sit inside and read books. It wasn't too long ago that I could barely go an eighth of a mile. Now it's six times that! [Pats self on back]

Not only can I go farther now, but it seems that the increase has been going a lot faster lately, like I got past some kind of exercise hump. Something feels different and less torturous about it suddenly. I think that the increase to two miles will be a lot quicker than the increase to one mile was. (Or--I guess--is, as I am technically still at three-quarters. But I anticipate doing a full mile very soon.)

If I can get up to five miles at some point, perhaps I will join the notorious Hash House Harriers, a self-described "drinking club with a running problem". They're also known as the "lunatic fringe of running", and were (of course) originally started by some bored expatriate Brits in Malaysia, but are now international. An athletic friend of mine has been entertaining me with her experiences with them during the past few years.

However, for now, I think just the jogging itself is enough of a challenge. Chasing someone pretending to be a rabbit cross-country can be distant a fantasy for now.