German saunas: I love ‘em! Photo (cc) flickr user Matti Mattila

Summer has come to Mainz, Germany in a big rainy mess.  Days are warm (ish).  It rains.  It’s gray for weeks.  Then suddenly it’s hot as hell.  But since it’s mostly just cool to cold I have reinstated my sacred sauna tradition.  (Tuesdays and Fridays, four hours for 10 euros at Taubertsbergbad!  Holla!)  It has become critical to my sanity.  Without it I am less patient, can tolerate less frustration.  But give me four weekly hours of steam, and I am a saint.  Or as near to one as I will ever be.