As one of my friends used to quip in the morning, “Rise—and grease the new day!” It’s Monday, July 11, and World Population Day, so please be aware of Earth’s increasing population. But there’s nothing any of us can do about it. It will be bloody hot today, with a high of 93°F (33°C), a temperature that would kill many soft northern Europeans.
On this day in 1803, Aaron Burr mortally wounded Alexander Hamilton in their famous duel, now a centerpiece of the Broadway musical “Hamilton,” which no mortal can afford to see. In 1924, the Muscular Christian Eric Liddell (“Chariots of Fire”) won the 400 m dash in the Olympics after having refused to run the 100-meter dash on The Lord’s Day. He later became a missionary in China and died in a Japanese internment camp in 1943. Finally, on July 11, 1960, Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockinbird was published.
Notables born on this day include E. B. White (1899), Harold Bloom (1930), Sela Ward (♥; 1956), Suzanne Vega (1959) and Jhumpa Lahiri (1967). Those who died on this day include George Gershwin (1937), Laurence Olivier (1989), and Lady Bird Johnson (2007). Meanwhile in Dobrzyn, Hili and Cyrus are sniffing:
Hili: We are on the right track.Cyrus: On the right track of what?Hili: Of something that went here.
Cyrus: Jesteśmy na tropie.
Hili: Na tropie czego?
Cyrus: Na tropie tego co tu szło.
In nearby Wrocklawek, the Dark Tabby Leon is excited because his staff is building a new home in the country where all of them will eventually move. But right now the entire family is going to southern Poland to buy an old wooden house that will be taken apart and reassembled on their new land. Leon is going along to supervise and ensure that the house is to his liking. There are many beautiful old wooden houses in that part of Poland (see here for examples), and there are companies that will disassemble them and then reassemble them elsewhere.
Leon: Did I pack everything?
And out in the wilds of Winnipeg, Gus assumes The Position:
What we can do about it?
Have fewer offspring!
🙁
Welcome to the 21st century…
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/climate-consensus-97-per-cent/2016/jul/05/new-research-climate-may-be-more-sensitive-and-situation-more-dire
It’s clear from all this research that the Earth’s climate is a very complex phenomenon which defies completely accurate understanding and prediction. However, the worse-than-we-thought/ better-than-we-thought vacillation tells us it’s likely we understand enough to justify being very afraid. I will be encouraging my offspring to have fewer children, if the question ever comes up.
I notice Leon looks pretty relaxed these days. Settled into the executive role.
Wish we could get Leon to do a documentary on the business of taking down a home and then building it again at a new location. Talk about recycling, sounds very interesting to me.
And don’t forget it is 7/11 day – free small Slurpees from 11 until 7 at 7/11 🙂
“…a high of 93°F (33°C), a temperature that would kill many soft northern Europeans.”
I visited Death Valley one summer. The temperature was 120 degrees. The place was full of Germans. A park ranger told me it happens every summer. They love it.