I went to one of my morning spots in the backyard garden to begin my daily Qigong practice. This spot is in a patch of grass surrounded by our magenta pink rose bushes, two strawberry patches, one of our grandmother apple trees, three vegetable garden beds and our beautiful towering red maple tree with its rustling leaves in the early morning breeze. Usually at this hour, I enjoy the warmth of the early morning sun, but not today. It was already hot. The day before was “only” 88 degrees but the sun’s intensity, along with my looming dread for the unprecedented heat wave coming to the Pacific Northwest, even as I stood in the cooling waters of our local Tolt River, made it that much stronger.