Wednesday 19 July 2006

Pic of the day: The filthy daystar! It burns us!

Hot hot days

This is the second heat wave this summer, and there wasn't really that much of a break between them. If anything, this one is worse. Outside in the shade is acceptable, but once I step into the sun, it is like passing in front of a blazing furnace. Or some kind of low grade death rays, I guess. It actually hurts a little. Though I may have grown more sensitive than most people!

Nor is southern Norway the only place the heat is burning. I read that England has had extreme heat as well, and continental Europe. But not only that: North America too, and at the same time. That baffles me: I can understand that the fronts vary, so that sometimes tropical heat presses northward in one place, while cold air from the pole goes southward another place. But this bold attack on two continents at the same time? It seems like a reckless display of power. And it just goes on and on, each burning day and sweltering night followed by another. If we wished to live like this, we would have moved to the tropics already. What good is it to live near the north pole when the cold slinks away like this, tail between its legs? I am sure it will be back for the winter. In fact, this past winter was arguably the hardest since I moved down here more than 20 years ago. But that memory is not much comfort now.

I throw water on my head till my hair is all wet, and sit in front of a large fan. Sometimes just one or another is enough, but sometimes not. And in the night, even without clothes, the heat makes it hard to sleep.

But all this is of course just natural fluctuations in the weather. It does not necessarily have anything to do with the greenhouse effect. And in any case, I am sure that when the winter comes, we will wish for all the greenhouse effect we can get. Those of us who survive that long... I am glad I am not old and frail and with heart problems now.