Carrying on, for 8 long miles

He had two big survival rules: drink water, and get the job done and get out of the heat as quickly as possible. So, at a brisk pace, he crossed scorched lawns that looked like hay, glided up steep front steps, and sprinted up and down grassy slopes.

“You want some water?’’ said contractor John Chamberlain, peering out an upstairs window as Corsetti delivered a package to his office on Marrett Road.

Corsetti got on his knees and jokingly stretched out his arms as though in a serenade.

“I’ve got to kneel down for this,’’ he said with a laugh.

Corsetti, 53, a Winchester resident, has been delivering mail for the past 23 years, four of them in Lexington. A native of East Boston, he got the job in 1988 after working 12 years as an auto mechanic. He is fit and has toned calf muscles and a tan, which he says has nothing to do with working in the sun.

“I’m Italian,’’ he laughed. “It’s natural.’’

Yesterday, Corsetti was dressed in full blue uniform, but he looked as if he was ready for a safari, with knee-length shorts, socks pulled high above his ankles, and an ivory pith helmet.

He parked the truck in the shade on Prospect Hill yesterday morning, worked his way up one side of the street and then the other. He got back in and parked farther down the street. He paused in front of David Wells’s home, as a landscape worker watered the yard.

“I like that hat,’’ Wells quipped. “You know he also wears it in the winter to keep the ice from hitting his head.’’

It’s not the same hat, Corsetti corrected.

He gets along with the people along the route who tease him, chat him up, and give him pitying looks as he hauls his bag and mail in the heat. “He can handle anything,’’ said Kathy Boudette on Prospect Hill. “You should see this guy in the blizzard.’’

At Bruegger’s bakery, where he takes a break several times a day, manager Edwin Urena had a bit more sympathy.

“I think it’s red-hot out there,’’ said Urena. “I don’t think he should be working in this heat, or they should have air conditioning in the truck or something.’’

On Waltham Street - four hours into his shift- Corsetti was sweating, his hair damp under his pith helmet and his shirt sticking to his body.

Minutes later, another postal worker drove by, wearing shorts and a cutoff T-shirt.

“Do you see a police officer wearing a cutoff T-shirt?’’ Corsetti asked. “Do you see a firefighter wearing a cutoff T-shirt? We are all professionals.’’

On his way to Bridge Street, Corsetti talked about his love of his job, the fact that he works outside, that he gets to talk to people, and that for most of the day he is his own boss.

“People always complain about this or the other about their job,’’ he said. “But I say, if you don’t like it, there’s the door.’’

Meghan E. Irons can be reached at mirons@globe.com. Follow her on twitter at @meghanirons.