From Warm to Storm

The good news is that the heat wave is going to be broken today.  The bad news is that some trees and power lines may be broken along with it.  Thunderstorms are expected later today with not only flooding rains but strong, damaging winds.  I don't know how thunderstorms produce their own tropical-storm-force gusts when the overall wind pattern is calm, as I don't know all that much about meteorology, but what I do know about it I've had to learn quickly, in order to comprehend how serious these recent weather trends are . . . and how threatening they are to us.  A lot of people think I am interested in meteorology, but if my house hadn't had 56 power outages in a decade - and a tree on our garage - I wouldn't show half the interest I do.  And I certainly wouldn't be talking about the weather so much on my blog.       

This weather is all being fueled by climate change, which has all but replaced space exploration as our new gargantuan achievement to pursue.  But not only do we not have another President Kennedy to goad us into committing ourselves to taking control of climate change, we have very few would-be Kennedys running for President on the Democratic side willing to do so, and those few, like Jay Inslee, are at one percent in the polls for the crime of being boring white males (Kennedyesque without the Kennedy part).  Climate-change deniers, meanwhile, are too busy bitching about a bunch of environmental crybabies in France telling America what to do about the environment and tell anyone here who doesn't like their attitude to move to France.

I can't, it's hotter even there than here. 

So, for the short term, cold fronts crashing into extreme heat and humidity mean that a few thunderstorms may be severe.  It won't be long before such conditions mean that most thunderstorms will be severe.  :-(      

Hot Hundred

Or close to it.

Temperatures in northern New Jersey have flirted with one hundred degrees Fahrenheit over the past couple of days, and a lot of us in this part of the country aren't happy about it.  Me, I've been taking it easy, going to the pool, and just trying to do everything possible to stay cool.  

Am I hoping for a break in the heat?  Yes, but not a clean one.  I don't want to see it get to the point that when a cold front does come through, it doesn't whip up the sort of severe thunderstorms that knock out the electricity for hours.  While the heat hasn't put a strain on our electricity, it's already tested our cable connection - a TV outage this past Friday was followed by a telephone and Internet outage on Sunday and four more telephone and Internet outages yesterday.  (Part of all this had to do with a cut cable, but what caused the cable to break in the first place?)  This coming Friday's forecast calls for widespread thunderstorms all day long thanks to a cold front, and temperatures should come down enough to provide noticeable relief. 

Just the same, I'll have to cross my fingers when the cold front does come through . . . and hope the more comfortable weather for the weekend doesn't come at a price. :-O

The Edge of Wetness

Summer arrived on time in northern New Jersey, with all the heat and humidity the American East Coast is famous for.

The easiest way to beat the heat around here, apart from spending an afternoon in an air-conditioned building, is going to a pool. I belong to a pool, I use it, and I enjoy it, but I'm not as enthusiastic about swimming as I am about cycling. In fact, when you consider everything that's involved in going to a pool - make sure you have your swim trunks, bring a towel, don't forget your soap and shampoo - the bike looks more attractive. You can really travel light - literally - on a bicycle. Getting everything ready for the pool and making sure you have everything when you leave is a pain in the neck. I once lost a pair of goggles that way.

In between I manage to swim about thirty laps and cool off well enough, but I've never been able to get comfortable in a pool. Maybe it's because of that cold, wet, clinging swimsuit attached to my person. Maybe it's time for bikini briefs. But there must be an easier way to stay cool in the summer than to get all wet.

Incidentally, I have spent the past year trying to start two profile articles, start pieces for two separate pieces for two Patch.com sites, get an editorial job once I had my editing certificate, increase my networking opportunities, travel abroad, and start a business service showing people how to blog. None of that came to pass. So it turns out I'm already all wet . . . about a lot of stuff.