Getting heated!

A heatwave is forecast for just about all of Europe, starting today. Colourful graphics show maps with red - indicating extreme heat - making its way up from Africa through to more northern climes. So in Spanish it could be an “ola de color” as well as an “ola de calor”.

Temperatures in the mid to high 30s are predicted just about everywhere, including quite a bit of the UK. I read that a heatwave is different from just plain hot weather but I’m blowed if I can remember what the difference is. It has something to do with there being no wind to blow the heat around. Meteorological science was not taught in my school science lessons. And besides, when it’s as hot as today it doesn’t make the slightest difference whether it’s a heatwave or just plain hot weather!

The lack of wind affects the air quality. Late last night we had to shut all the windows as there was a distinct smell of burning. No sign of eucalyptus trees on fire around here fortunately, and besides, it smelt more like somebody burning stuff they should not have been incinerating. All in all, rather annoying, especially as when it’s hot I like to get up a little earlier to run before the heat gets going. And the temperature gauge at the end of the street already measured 23 degrees at 8.45. Okay, that’s not all that early but even a blogger has to sleep some of the time!

Out shopping late morning, I stopped for a glass of water in one of the local cafes. There I witnessed the waitress spectacularly drop a tray full of glasses and bottles of beer. Was this a consequence of the excessive heat? Or just a careless customer moving his stool at entirely the wrong moment? Was he affected by excessive heat?

I read about a sunflower grower in Canada having a bumper crop (result of lots of sunshine no doubt) and deciding to earn a little extra from his blooming flowers by charging people to come onto his land and admire the beauty and take some selfies. He employed extra staff and set up a parking area and portable toilets. A nice little earner! Or so he thought!

Of course, this being the age of social media the whole thing went viral as people posted their selfies. “Everyone was laughing and having fun,” Barry Bogle, the owner, told the newspapers. “Then all of Toronto showed up.” And suddenly the highways leading to his sunflower farm were clogged and his crop was in danger of being trampled. The full extent of the damage won’t be known until the crop is properly ready for harvesting.

At one point an estimated 7,000 cars were trying to park on the 300 capacity parking lot! Hundreds of people just walked into the fields without paying and in the end the police had to intervene and ask Bogle Seeds to close down the operation. The mind Bog(g)les! Sorry, I just couldn’t resist!

Some people are not happy with the cancellation of the selfie-fest. Some accused the Bogle family of ruining their vacation. “I drove two hours, three hours, I deserve to get my picture taken”, was a typical remark. Really?! Is the chance to take a selfie with a sunflower the high point of a holiday? Others simply drove around the corner and – selfie sticks in hand – snuck past the “no trespassing” signs. Mr Bogle has been getting abuse! And other sunflower growers are complaining that their farms are being invaded as well.

Such is summer madness.

Clearly the heat has gone to some people’s heads.

Meanwhile, as forest fires rage in California, some congressmen still don’t believe in climate change, or at least in the human factor causing it. They think it’s just hot weather as usual. I suppose they are entitled to their opinions.

Some people, on the other hand, do think that climate change is happening. A chap in Redding, California, one of the places affected by the fires said he didn’t need science to tell him about climate change. It’s “obvious”, he said. “Look at the trees around you right now. The leaves are falling out of the trees when they shouldn’t be. The environment is changing, and it’s changing everywhere.”

However, he doesn’t think we can do much about it. “The good Lord has to fix it. We’re not capable of it.”

That is another kind of madness!