Welcome to Only Child! Today’s gonna be a shorter one. Hope you’re enjoying the start of summer.
This past weekend has mostly come out of a whirring fan. Everywhere I go, I hear the sound of moving air. It comes from the fans in my apartment and public transportation. Even the air blowing up through the grating. Because it’s been hot. So hot that, at certain points in the day, my skin has begun to melt into a puddle on the floor. This poses a concern, especially if I’m sitting for long periods of time. I will stand up, and all ninety degrees of the sun’s warmth will have peeled off the outer layer of my legs into a little pond on the floor. This would normally be okay because I have many sponges to clean up after myself, but I forget, then I risk slipping when I stand up.
Summer is such a sluggish time. Nowhere around you will you find an example of the word “brisk.” People move slower, bodies slouched in train seats like mountains after a rock slide, melting very slowly. Even the cars drive slower, sleepier. The heat is a barrier of its own. You can feel it as you walk. It holds weight, like a cashmere blanket. The wind blows slower. The trees sway less. The sun takes longer to set. Processes take longer. Garbage is disposed of at a more leisurely pace. Public restrooms lines trickle forward like oil. Information travels as though through water. People have to repeat what they just said more often because the little radio operators inside our brains that translate language to thought are dozing off. The heat is powerful.
Last summer, I spent most of my time inside. Most people did. We took our little walks like R/C cars on a circuit to get those quick hits of vitamin D. We kept our slowness to ourselves. Now, people are out and about, vaccinated, and enjoying the outdoors. I am excited to see the world again.
Other Things Of Note
This essay on the perfect artistic career of Bill Watterson, the creator of Calvin and Hobbes.
This profile of Catherine Russell, a prolific stage actress who led an acting class for beginners that I took this weekend. She’s put on the play Perfect Crime for 30 years, and is in the Guinness Book of World Records for never having taken a sick day or vacation day during that time!
Only Child is a bi-weekly newsletter where I find excitement in the mundane. Tell your friends and enemies to subscribe!
—Chuckry Vengadam (@churrthing)
A Quick Appreciation of Summer☀️
Chuckry, reading your posts always reinvigorate my desire to write! Was in NYC a couple weeks ago (completely forgot to hit you up -- I'll be back!) and can confirm this is accurate lol