It’s hotter than blue blazes
My grandmother would sit on the porch, fanning herself, and say “It’s so hot you can fry an egg on the sidewalk.” Today, I think you could not only fry the egg, but the bacon, too, and boil up some water for the grits while you’re at it. I think by now, we all know exactly how hot it is.
Heat can be dangerous and lead to heat exhaustion or heatstroke. Drink plenty of fluids (beer is not the right kind of fluid) and try to keep cool.
How did people keep cool before air conditioning? When it was hot and there was no breeze a’stirring, mothers would dip their children’s nightgowns in water and they would be put to bed wet, but cool. Keep that tip in mind in case the electrical grid gets overloaded and the AC goes out.
Ancient Egyptians would wet a reed mat and hang it in an open window or doorway. As the water evaporated, it cooled the air. Egyptians also invented the parasol to protect them from the searing heat of the sun. Today, we wear baseball caps.
People have always tried to find ways to predict the weather, especially farmers and sailors whose livelihood depended on the weather.
For instance, dandelions can predict when it will rain. The yellow flowers extend to full bloom when it is sunny, but when humidity is high, right before it rains, the flowers close-up to protect their pollen. Most people think of dandelions as a pesky weed, but not only can they predict when it will rain — you can make wine out of them.
An old adage used by sailors to predict the weather is “red sky in the morning, sailors take warning; red sky at night, sailors delight.” It is easier to predict the weather if you use rhyming language. Sailors believe that a red sunrise means only one thing, stormy weather. Scientifically, it’s something about how high wispy clouds made of ice crystals refract the sunlight, which indicates a high pressure system has passed through — and a low pressure system could move in, causing stormy weather.
There are people who can feel the approach of a storm through their bones, sinuses, headaches, or teeth. In a study by the American Journal of Medicine, they found a link between barometric pressure and osteoarthritic knee pain. The fluids in our body can be affected by air pressure, so if the barometer falls, as it does when a storm is approaching, your tissues can swell, pressing against nerve endings. Ouch.
Insects can also predict the weather. Crickets chirp faster in warm weather and more slowly as the air gets cooler. Researchers claim you can calculate the temperature by counting cricket clicks. If you can’t sleep, don’t count sheep, count the number of cricket clicks for 14 seconds, then add 40, and you will get the outside temperature.
Pine cones are also good predictors of weather. They fan out their scales in dry weather, however, if rain is in the air, their scales will close-up. This behavior is due to seed dispersal. During dry weather, seeds are looser, lighter, and more easily carried off by the wind. When the weather is damp, seeds tend to clump together and won’t travel as far.
Meteorologists, with their Doppler radars, weather satellites, and computer models can predict, with accuracy, where and when a hurricane will hit. They can predict wind speeds, thunderstorms, tornadoes, and flash floods. It’s just unfortunate that they can’t do anything about it.
Lynda says that it is so hot that chickens are laying hard-boiled eggs. She can be reached at lyndaabegg@charter.net. Opinions expressed in this column are reflective of the writer only and are not necessarily shared by the newspaper.