Kristen, it’s hotter than Hades in here!

My column this week is a "co-column" and goes along with the column written by our own Kristen Inman this week. To read her words, go here.

I like a room to be cool. Cool to the point you can store vegetables and they’ll stay crisp. I also adore fresh air and natural light, but those are beside the point.

My co-worker/conspirator Kristen “I do what I want” Inman, however, has zero percent body fat and has to be part reptile, because she is sitting across from me in a 73-degree office, cuddling a kitten, wrapped in a BLANKET. In JUNE.

I, with my ample layer of insulating body fat and tendency to sweat at the hint of exertion, sit with a fan at my side.

Somehow, we make it work while the rest of the office surely thinks we are lunatics at both ends of the thermometer.

I point my fan in my direction, trying to be respectful to my deskmate while I attempt to focus on my work. The sweet, cool, life-giving air caresses my fevered brow and inspires me to greater heights of journalism while Inman snuggles up in layer after layer, apparently trying to find her inspiration despite the limitations of an icy heart and scales.

I joke. Kristen has the kindest heart you can imagine and has saved the lives of innocent kittens by fostering abandoned babies for the Humane Society.

I digress. Despite her actions, which are putting her on the fast-track to crazy cat lady old womanhood, I can’t help but wonder if she was actually abandoned at birth, and was raised by a family of kindhearted iguanas in the desert.

Somehow, we co-exist in the place we spend such a large part of our time. With my constantly-going fan and her layers of insulation, we are friends and I am grateful for that.

Patti is a Seattle native who really likes cats and the color purple and lives in Linton with her husband, John, who is secretly a cat. She loves air-conditioning and co-workers who tell jokes and bring treats.