Summer Adjustments

As I type this, it is just before seven a.m. Normally I would be heading down the car to drive into work, but today I will work from home, I decided.

As I sit here I am hunched down so as to be behind the pillar that rises in the middle of the balcony. That is because the sun has risen over the neighboring building and is bright in my face, forcing me to squint. All winter long, I forgot what I relearn each year, which is that in summer, for the few three or four hours of the day, the patio is flooded with sunlight. It will be too bright and too hot to sit in the rocking chair.

Thankfully I have the trusty rice paper screen, which has been leaning against the wall folded up all winter gathering dust. In a few moments, I will walk over and put it up against the little bamboo privacy fence for support, and brace it with a chair so it doesn't fall over in the merest breeze. Then the patio will become a haven of shade and be very pleasant until it becomes hot, and then I will have to turn on the fan.