Nervous Sweats

 A relatively new theory about human evolution posits that the unique trait which first advanced us beyond other species might not have been the big lump of a control system in our skulls, but rather our ability to sweat.  In addition to making us stink such that other animals might avoid us, sweat is a much more effective cooling method than the panting on which other fauna rely.  Even Porsche eventual gave up on air cooling because, well, water works!

It may be that sweating gave us the ability to hunt when other creatures needed to lie low, and the surfeit of nutrition may be what allowed us the then build the big brains that would turn us into humans.  Our noggins take a lot of resource to generate and maintain, but they sweated, therefore I am!  Of course, while there were tremendous competitive advantages to seemingly out thinking everything, there were some long term negative consequences like eventually figuring out we could burn fossilized energy from the sun, and of course, the odd odd person with a sense of humor like mine.

It's early morning as I write this, and I'm sitting with the windows open because, for the second day, the temperature is in the mid sixties after a bit of a hot stint, but that's just "a bit" when compared to what's been happening globally.  Yesterday morning, the BBC reported that after a record setting monthly global temperature in June, the first week of July was hottest seven day period on record.  I do understand that weather is not climate, but weather trends, that sort of is.  This is looking pretty hot and trendy, but alas not in the more typical superficial way.  This kind of matters.

Again, weather isn't climate, and local events don't define global trends, but sometimes local weather can be a reflection of what's happening to the big picture.  It's comfortable today, but it's also been wet, especially up in Vermont, which is upstream of me on the now very flooded Connecticut River.  Rivers flood.  It's one of the things they do, and if we don't build in the flood plain, that can be fine, but flooding in New England in mid July, it's almost like the climate changed!  Same line I used when I had my first tick bite and prophylactic antibiotic course for Lyme Disease in the very warm first half of February this year.  Unfortunately, and not just as a reflection of my humor, it wasn't a new line for me in either occasion.  People usually laugh at it, and that is my intent, but I've also taken to adding, "Too bad it isn't actually funny."

As I often do, I'll end with: "Go ride a bike.  It's fun!" And if we can get enough people to consider it instead of driving, maybe it'll take a bit longer for everything to become truly un-fun, and we can sweat more for personal cooling than out of nervousness that we've destroyed the climate we need to live.  Be well, really, meanwhile, I'm going to ride to where I can see the river.  In isn't in my backyard---YET!