Too damned hot to do much outside, anyway. And not showing signs of letting up soon.

Finished my day at the gas station, filling up across the pump from another heat-annoyed Explorer owner. Next pump in the line, a woman pulls up on a Vespa wearing a Herve Leger A-line dress. There has been some rain but not enough to do more than dampen the pavement, and there’s a strong wind. She has on a half helmet and as she lifts the seat to fill the fuel tank she drops her keys. “The day is about to get a whole lot better” I say to my companion at the opposite pump. “And hotter” he responds. She bends to pick up the keys, evidently oblivious to the fact that her skirt has blown up around her waist for a moment of time too small to be measured, but which seems like about an hour.

We stare in silence.

The time dilation effect subsides, and I say “Well, that explains why she’s got a towel wrapped around the seat”. We finish pumping gas and drive away, in my case at least, sitting a bit more uncomfortably than before.