1.   Even when the old bones are creaking in the midsummer heat, I can always depend on a reader to elicit a chuckle, albeit on a serious subject.

2.   Last weekend the temperature in Boston fluctuated wildly as the city teetered between midsummer heat and the chill of early spring.

3.   Take a look at those who flatten themselves in slivers of shade outside their workplaces, fighting midsummer heat and humidity to take their smoking breaks.

4.   Inside, the delegates were crammed around a small table strewn with maps and papers, sweating in the midsummer heat.

5.   Russian and Chechen negotiators met Wednesday around a map-strewn table in the midsummer heat but made no progress toward peace as a cease-fire appeared to be fraying.

6.   The mercury has also been unseasonably high elsewhere in the West this week, with Arizona and Nevada already seeing midsummer heat.