Twenty Third Visit to Taft

Ron is moving to Bel Air. That is, the Bel Air area of the Taft dormitory. As I told you early on, the sleeping assignments at Taft are on a senority basis. When you first arrive, you'll probably go to Flushing Meadows, the nickname for the area right near the bathroom. Obviously, the least desirable place to be. As time goes on you can move to better digs, possibly Sleepy Hollow. Ron requested a move and luckily he got it. He's now moved to area nicknamed Bel Air, as it is one of the nicest areas to live. Quiet, no lights blazing, and not a lot of foot traffic. Even though he hasn't been there very long, he was able to move to a better location. Maybe he won't have to sleep with ear plugs and an eye mask anymore.

Summers at Taft are long and hot. Ron likes his work in the garden, but when the temperature gets over 100 degrees, there is no outside work. It's just too hot. In fact Ron gets very overheated when it's in the 90's and he has to drink water and limit his activity. One thing the Taft mangement doesn't want is inmates getting sick from the heat. So the summer becomes very long. Ron goes inside where the weather is always comfortable, reads a book, does a puzzle, talks to his friends, or sleeps. The other reason summer is so long is that the guys are not playing softball in July and August (too hot), thus Ron is not umpiring. Umpiring is one of the activities that he really looks forward to, but that will have to wait until the weather cools off.

So for the now, things move along slowly. There's not much activity outside for the next few months, but hopefully he will have sudoku, crosswords, brain teasers and lots of books and magazines to keep him occupied. Some new things are coming to Taft soon, but I'll tell you about that next week.