105 in the shade

Bro. Clarence has just arrived, sunburnt as though he had walked from New Mexico to the Mojave, but he assured me that he is fine and that he hitchhiked the entire way, that is until the last 5 miles, and later will share his many stories once he recuperates, and I might add that I watched him "wolf down" 7 tuna sandwiches while gulping down 10 bottles of water. Yes, the desert will do that to a mere human, it will drain you of your last ounce of strength before you know it, and if you have no plan or escape, water from every cell in your body will desert you and leave your brain in a rather deadly state of panic, overwhelmed by messages and signals from every part of your body, each demanding immediate attention, and the poor mind turns to mush, thinking now a very expensive luxury, thinking, that consumer of far too much energy, energy that isn't to be had, so the thinking mind shuts down while the primitive brain frantically attempts to sort out the mess, a mess that quickly degenerates into a cascade of system failures that terminate far after the thinking mind has taken leave. Well, Bro. Clarence is too smart to find himself in such a state, yet his want to be home as soon as possible caused him to foolhardedly hike the last five miles to the monastery. And it was 105-F in the shade! And Bro. Simon watched in dismay, repeating over and over, "... not wise ... not wise ..."