Hot Weather New York

As the temperature rises it seems that people's focus gets lost.  The focus to work gets lost daydreaming about frolicking about outdoors in the beautiful weather.  In "Hot Weather New York", Whitman describes a hot day in New York.  His description of the city and the people around him make it seem like life stops when it is nice outside, when the weather is perfect and all you want to do is enjoy the sun.

This speaks to Whitman's loaferness.  People don't need to sit in their cubicles, they shouldn't be cooped up indoors when it is beautiful outside.  He says, "I linger long, enjoying the sundown, the glow, the streak'd sky, the heights, distances, shadows."  I really like this sentence mostly because of the first part, "I linger long."  I picture Whitman by the shore, wandering about as if he has no where to go.  He is just taking in his environment, the sun, the shadows, and everything around him.  He has nothing of much importance to do at that time, the only pertinent matter is to be there, where he is.

This reminds me of a guy I used to work with.  I work in downtown San Francisco, next to Yerba Buena Gardens.  It was a beautiful summer day so sitting at a desk, staring at a computer was not someone's ideal situation for the day, particularly this gentleman at work.  At 12:30pm, He decided to walk two blocks down to the gardens to have lunch.  Two hours later, my boss is walking around asking where Ted is.  All we know is that he went to lunch.  It wasn't until about 3:30pm that Ted comes running back into the office profusely apologizing that he was so late.  I asked Ted why he was so late.  His response, "It is such a beautiful day outside, I went to Yerba Buena to enjoy the sun.  I closed my eyes and lost track of time."