If you can’t beat the heat, crank it up

It may have been pushing 96 degrees yesterday, but the furnaces at Diablo Glass School in Roxbury Crossing were fuming at around 2,100 degrees as dozens of sweaty students molded molten glass.

“The humidity is the worst… We just drink lots of water, and I buy my students freeze pops,” said glassblowing instructor Megan Mowins, who spends three hours in front of the furnaces.

Glass artist Cristian Gazmuri calmly sculpted a glass fish with a flame torch: “You don’t sweat as much when you make jewelry, so I make that and a lot of pendants.”

They weren’t the only Bostonians to crank up the heat today.

In Cambridge, Jo Gray soaked in a hot tub full of 104-degree water.

“I can’t believe it’s only eight degrees cooler outside than it is in the tub because I thought I would be sweating even more but it feels very refreshing,” said Gray, co-owner of Inman Oasis.

It’s true that business at the hot tub spa drops a bit on days like today, but co-owner Renee Farster said you’d be surprised at how many customers come in for a hot soak.

“You’re still sweating but it’s a completely different type of sweat. You’re sweating out the toxins, and it’s good for you. Sweat cools you down,” Farster said. “That’s why in India they drink hot tea all the time, because the sweat cools down your body temperature. It’s the natural thing to do.”

Around the corner, at East Coast Grill, the kitchen staff shrugged off the heat as they prepared sizzling, infamously spicy dishes.

“We use some of the hottest peppers in the world,” said owner East Coast Grill owner James Lozano. “Some people get excited about that. But with some peppers, it’s not only hot when you eat it, it’s hot the next day.”

A couple popular peppers at the restaurant, which has made headlines for having some customers sign waivers before partaking in certain spicy dishes, are ghost chilies and habaneros.

At City Hall Plaza, some dehydrated looking people meandered around the open space, which resembled a barren dessert.

Although it was pretty stark, there were a few sunbathers.

One of them – Mark Magnuson, was not afraid to shed his shirt and shoes to catch some rays.
“As long as I’m casting a stationary shadow, it doesn’t bother me. Once I start moving, that’s when it bothers me.”