This heat is enervating. The air is still. The temperature comes in waves -- you can see the air shining and undulating even with no breeze. All the birds fall silent.
Here, we reached 110 degrees.The pets lie limp. The children don't smile as much; too much effort. In L.A. County, it got up to 121. Streetlights fail; power outages roll through the West. Smoke is everywhere. Our world is burning up.
Your clothes stick to your body. If you have a beard, you start to regret it.
It's too hot to cook and almost too hot to eat. We ordered Thai food -- spicy dishes like curry are the best way to deal with heat, which is the wisdom of the tropics.
And just keep drinking water. Lots of water.
You can't sleep.
All this holiday weekend, I've been worrying a bit about those I know out in the fire zones. My daughter and her family packed up their car with camping and fishing gear and headed north on Friday.
That same evening, a reporter friend of mine who lives in the Central Valley called me as she headed out for a holiday camping trip.
Unwittingly, they all drove into a ring of fire. We've heard from my daughter; they've been driving all over the north and staying at hotels. Nowhere to camp but at least they are safe.
My friend is safe too and true to form, she is headed straight to the fire zone to cover the story. When you are a reporter, and nature strikes, there's no such thing as a day off.
An admission: I miss that. When the news is your industry, you always feel the itch,
***
Even the news is hot.
* A brush fire in the Sierra National Forest exploded Saturday, consuming more than 36,000 acres, threatening local communities and trapping 150 near a popular reservoir. The fast-moving Creek fire cut off evacuation routes to Mammoth Pool Reservoir, according the Madera County sheriff’s office. All of the people were reported safe but 10 of them suffered some type of injury, the sheriff’s office said. (SFGate)
* How Trump Draws on Campaign Funds to Pay Legal Bills (New York Times)
* Since finding the first crater in 2014, Russian scientists have documented 16 more explosions in the Arctic caused by gas trapped in thawing permafrost. (New York Times)
* Trump fixates on promise of a vaccine — real or not — as key to reelection bid (Washington Post)
* Fox News colleagues defend reporter after Trump Twitter attack over confirmation of Atlantic reporting (Washington Post)
* According to Trump’s former lawyer, Michael Cohen, Trump disparaged Latinos and Blacks as “too stupid” to vote for him, and admired the way Vladimir Putin runs Russia.(Washington Post)
* Economists have begun to sound alarm bells that economic recovery in the wake of the pandemic may only widen the gaps between different industries and segments of society, CNBC reports. In such a "K-shaped" recovery, we'd see ever-growing divergences between businesses that have thrived amid the pandemic (tech, big box retail) and those that have floundered (small business, airlines, hospitality) and between the individuals whose economic livelihoods are tied up with these different parts of the economy. Such a recovery could exacerbate the problems associated with growing wealth inequality the U.S. faced prior to the pandemic. (CNBC)
* A new study shows a record number of young adults are now living with their parents, "surpassing the previous peak during the Great Depression era,"according to Pew Research Center. Its analysis of monthly Census Bureau data found that 52% of young adults 18 to 29 resided with one or both of their parents in July, up from 47% in February. That translates to 26.6 million young adults, up 2.6 million from February. (LinkedIn)
* The pandemic made many travelers rethink their summer vacation plans, with many hitting the road instead of flying. The New York Times says road trips reminiscent of the "summer of 1965" have become trendy, with people forgoing "splashy international experiences for humbler ones close to home" — except with Google maps, masks and curbside pickup these days. And for those looking to sneak in a slice, a number of new pizza farms have popped up around the country. The Times singled out five popular farms that are bringing farmers and pizza lovers together in socially-distanced settings. (New York Times)
* Researchers from Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston and MIT joined forces to test out the use of robotic dogs to take COVID-19 patients' vitals, Fast Company reports. The remote-controlled robot pups, which were developed by Boston Dynamics, were equipped with four different types of cameras that can take a patient's temperature, monitor their breathing and determine pulse rate and blood oxygen levels. Such tech can increase separation between the infected and medical professionals, which can help reduce the risk of exposure and spread. And, as an added benefit, patients seem to react positively to the canine-like bots. (Fast Company)
* Hong Kong Police Make Sweeping Arrests as Protests Return (Bloomberg) Hong Kong protesters defy national security law, return to streets to oppose election delay -- Thousands marched in defiance of the law, which was written to put a decisive end to exactly this kind of protest. Police arrested nearly 300 people. (Washington Post)
* Typhoon Haishen: Millions asked to evacuate as Japan braces for storm (BBC)
***
Love is a burning thing
And it makers a firery ring
Bound by wild desire
I fell in to a ring of fire
-- Johnny Cash
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