but it's a dry heat

The Santa Ana Winds are paying us a visit, bringing heated air from the deserts to the east. The ordinary dominant wind pattern brings cool, moist air in off the Pacific to the west. Yesterday, when I'd been indoors for many an hour, my boss popped into my office and apologized for the Santa Ana. (He was joking.) I didn't know what he was talking about. The weather had been normal when I came in that morning, and I hadn't been outside since 9 a.m. By the time I left, it was noticeably hot. I actually turned the A/C on before I left home this morning.

The area where I live is, as above mentioned, a near-desert zone. Wildfires are a big problem, and right now there's one hard at work chewing up dried vegetation well to the north of anyplace I actually go. The Santa Ana is only encouraging it. The L.A. Times ran this article about the wind/fire combo today. Again, let me stress, for those of you who worry -- this fire is nowhere near me.

Tomorrow, SCR opens this show, the first for which I've served as production dramaturg. At 5 p.m. I'll do an hour-long onstage talk with the playwright, who is blessedly loquacious, so he'll do most of the work. I just had to get the questions ready. At 6 p.m., we'll repair to a nearby restaurant for a swanky dinner with the donors who gave so generously that they achieved Honorary Producer status on this show. At 7:45 the figurative curtain goes up, the show ends around 9:45 and that's when the eating, drinking and being merry on the terrace starts. It's a shorter show than Caucasian Chalk Circle, so I hope to make it through the party this time. Last time I bailed; too tired to entertain other people anymore after a work day that was 14 continuous hours and counting.