We’re getting a reprieve not only from the past week’s sodden, record-threatening heat, but also the low-level alarmism that rolled in with it. With all the warnings in circulation, you’d think we’d never seen hot weather in July before.
Perspective should never be lost. Unlike other areas of the country, we haven’t spent part of our summer either flooded or on fire. Evacuees from Kingfisher Lake First Nation, some of whom are staying in the residences at Algonquin College while they wait out forest fires, will no doubt be happy to get back home. But for now, it’s not hard to pick the better spot to be.
Still, we made much of our small problems last week. A friend was surprised that his kids’ soccer league had cancelled games not just for the hottest days, but for the entire week. It may have been an overreaction, but caution was much on our minds (though not on that of the sweat-drenched speed-walker who buzzed by me in Thursday’s worst heat, looking to me even nuttier than usual).
The warnings from local health authorities were of course prudent. Heat can kill, and our willingness to take the weather seriously played a role in keeping our casualty rate at zero.
The city advised people to seek out air conditioning, for example by hiding out from the day’s worst heat at the library. Fortunately, the heat had abated by yesterday, as the library’s current budget doesn’t allow for Sunday hours at any of its branches in summer.
For the most part, though, we faced little that some shade and a cold beverage of your choice couldn’t remedy.
It’s possible we were still in a state of heightened weather-wariness from last Sunday’s storm, which knocked out power in parts of the city and spectacularly blew down the MBNA stage at Bluesfest.
The following morning, with the week’s humidex horrors already underway, the festival’s executive director, Mark Monahan, faced the media (in T-shirt and sandals) to explain why he hadn’t pulled the plug earlier as the storm approached.
“We don’t automatically call a show because we have weather we see coming in,” he said. “If we did that, we wouldn’t be able to run a festival.”
It’s an outdoor festival, after all, and that’s where the weather is. Similarly, it’s summer, and some stinking hot days are to be expected. They’ll be gone, and missed, soon enough.
