This is not really a cycling entry, but.....

One of the great things about living in Chicago is that we have season changes. We get to enjoy, warm and sunny, hot and muggy, tornadoes, blizzards, sometime all in the same day. Well, actually, I don't think we've ever had a tornado and blizzard on the same day, but there have been some huge temperature drops. In early January 2005 we had a 60+ degree day, within 36 hours it was 5 below zero with a sub-human wind chills. Alas, I'm digressing. This weekend it's supposed to get real hot. I don't know if that will affect my riding schedule.

But on a related note, it was 11 years ago this week that Chicago experienced some of the hottest weather in their recorded history. I didn't know it at the time, but one of my cats, Hugo, was rescued during that heat wave. I volunteer at this wonderful no-kill animal shelter in the city called Animal Adoption Associates. And during the heat wave of 1995, Rosemary, the lady who runs the shelter, got a call from someone who asked if she could come and pick up some cats. Well, Rosemary showed up and found, in a camper truck, in a garage about 20 very young (kittens and young adult) Norwegian Forest Cats ("NFC"). Well NFCs are designed to live OUT OF DOORS in Norway, in the winter. So I don't need to tell you how hellish that camper truck must have been. Quite of few of the cats, but not all, were saved. Hugo has been living with me for a little over four years and has enough personality to make up for some of his siblings and cousins who didn't make it. During this heat wave, he will be enjoying a nice air-conditioned house. Please take the time and make sure any outdoor animals in your life have enough shade and fresh water.