I look out of my window on this sultry day and thank God for the Philippine summer. I recall being buffeted by the cold wind on an island off Olongapo two years ago and wishing that all of it would stop, that I could take off my shirt and walk through the crisp forest for as long as I liked, and that I could lie down on the grass with a glass of iced lemonade while listening to the humming of air-conditioners behind the cottages,

Take on the heat because it makes you loving, friendly, and effusive, because it dries your laundry quickly, because it enables you to varnish your paintings any time you want, because you can walk anywhere without having to duck under awnings and umbrellas, because it offers a cornucopia of tropical fruits and delights such as jalu-jalo after jalan-jalan, and, let us face it, because sweating can be healthy.