The Heat is On: A Peekskill Summer Journallog

One could adopt this style to stay cool during the summer, as observed at Peekskill's Juneteenth celebration on Central Avenue. Among the crowd, I encountered an individual who stood out as the epitome of coolness. I felt compelled to express my admiration directly, as he was also exceptionally charming.

The heat is on, as they say—and so be it this week for those of us in the New York City area, all the way up through the Hudson Valley to Peekskill and beyond. I’ve vowed not to complain about the heat this year. Honestly, I could care less about it after enduring what felt like the coldest winter of my life—one that rivaled even the coldest winter ever spent in June in San Francisco. Peekskill held its own in the frigid sweepstakes with three months of chill and a streak of unshakable cold days and several inches of snow.

But if the heat does get to you, Peekskill offers a few natural reprieves that may just be easier than surviving the concrete steam bath of the city—especially this week, as NYC celebrates Pride in honor of that fateful night in June 1969. It was then that gays, queers, drag queens, lesbians, and yes, straights too, took a stand at the Stonewall Inn. Legend has it the queens, grieving Judy Garland’s death just days earlier, had reached the point of no patience. Their grief turned fiery, and they fought back so fiercely that the police barricaded themselves inside Stonewall—fearful of the blowback, a Molotov cocktail among it. But that story, delicious as it is, deserves its own spotlight on another day.

Right now, I’m supposed to be writing about this heatwave barreling toward us—temperatures pushing 100 degrees in New York City on Tuesday. Peekskill won’t be far behind. Even the city that never sleeps may find itself craving a good siesta when the mercury spikes.

Still, if you're lucky enough to be in Peekskill, you can always head to the river where it’s cooler than downtown. Or escape into the hills—Fort Hill and Blue Mountain—where shade and trees provide a leafy sanctuary, and a breeze is almost always hanging around. Bring a book, kick back. Speaking of which, I’m in the middle of a good one right now—not my own, but a classic by the master himself: Doctor Sleep, by Stephen King. He was my favorite author as a teenager, and I guess this summer I’m rediscovering him… and, maybe, a few pieces of my younger self, too.
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Heatwaves, hills, and horror novels. Somehow, it all fits.

Any location atop Fort Hill, overlooking the river 374 feet below, remains cooler than the downtown area at the base of the hill during periods of high temperatures.

Undoubtedly this gentleman with the afro, accompanied by his companion, exudes a level of cool surpassing any air conditioning system on hot summer day.

I am relishing the moment atop Fort Hill, somewhere on the Decatur Avenue side, as embracing the present and pursuing one's passions truly define the essence of life.

“Indian summer is like a woman. Ripe, hotly passionate, but fickle, she comes and goes as she pleases so that one is never sure whether she will come at all, nor for how long she will stay.” ― Grace Metalious, Peyton Place