poliphilo

I've been in hotter places. The hottest was the Valley of the Kings. The second hottest was Elizabethtown, Kentucky. One was subject to dry heat, the second to humidity. The second was harder to bear. Yesterday was the hottest day that anyone has lived through in England but I've known many that were hotter. Dare I say it wasn't really all that bad?

Our problem in England is we're just not prepared for extremes of heat- and as we faff about- cancelling railway journeys and composing alarmist headlines- forget that people in other countries manage perfectly well in climates that deliver extreme weather- both hot and cold- for months at a time- and have even contrived to create high civilisation under such conditions. I wouldn't want to live through an Egyptian summer, but Egyptians- ancient and modern- seem to take it in their stride.

I don't want to get into an argument about climate change because it's so very much not my subject, but I'm going to risk muttering, sotto voce- that the human animal is really very adaptable...

The heatwave ended quite suddenly. Ailz and I were sitting out on the patio, baking, when a sudden gust of wind threw dust and dead leaves at us and knocked over one of the chairs. The wind continued to blow... then there was rain... then there were tongues of lightning flickering over the Downs...

The weather today looks as though it's going to be mild and well-mannered.