MIRIAM’S HOUSE WAS AIR CONDITIONED

The peristyle is an interior garden bound by evenly spaced columns that support a shady roofed portico over a stone walkway. In Miriam’s house, the peristyle allowed the cool Etesian breezes (see my blog of January 19, 2016) to air condition the surrounding rooms on all but the most blistering day.

Miriam tells us about that day:

The weather was still unseasonable, the heat lingering like an unwelcome guest. So I opened all the doors hoping to enjoy one last breath from the Etesians, those seasonal, northwesterly winds that temper our summer sun. But no, instead of rustling the boxwood hedges, tunneling through the peristyle, and billowing the drapes, the air remained lifeless, searing the membranes of my nostrils and burning my lungs with plumes of fire.

As the weather here gets cooler, warm your spirits in the lingering heat of that Alexandrian day. Read Chapter 8 of THE DEADLIEST SPORT, the third Miriam bat Isaac adventure, due for release in 2017.