it's a dry heat

114 today in Palm Springs, but very dry, less than 10% humidity. So dry that when I went to the pool this evening, I was cold when I got out! Evaporative cooling. I'm trying to get the hang of this desert lifestyle. How to cope with the heat without merely staying indoors.
Mostly we coped this weekend by escaping -- yesterday taking the tram up to 8500 feet (and 85 degrees) for hiking and birdwatching, today by driving to the coast (4 foot waves and again 85 degrees).
It was strange at the beach. I paddled my body board out beyond the break, waiting for a decent set to come in, watching porpoises and pelicans, and realized that a large group of people had congregated on the shore and were clapping and hooting. I caught a wave, rolling down the jade green hillside of water, feeling it rise then break and crumble behind me, taking it all the way in as it re-formed to make a decent shore break. I weaved my way between bathers standing in the shallows and heard "Praise the Lord" and realized this was a church group conducting full-immersion baptisms in the Pacific. Of course, heathen that I am, I sing a song of praise every time I catch a wave, every time the sun rises or the moon sets. Next time I feel the ocean rising beneath me and i manage to kick and paddle hard enough that gravity takes me down that living translucent miracle, maybe I'll let out a "praise the Lord" or two, or at least, a big Thank you.