Let Me Whine A Minute

This is just the fifth summer that I have lived in the Panhandle, and as I have told many of my friends, I really enjoy living here because of the weather -- especially the mild summers (compared to the rest of Texas). For example, as the rest of Texas roasted under a vicious sun last summer the Panhandle generally enjoyed temps in the mid-90s with little humidity. We only had one or two 100 degree days, and I loved that.

But I guess nothing lasts forever, and this year we are having a real scorcher of a summer to go along with our continuing drought. Today we had a temp of 103 degrees, and that was the 26th 100 degree day we have had this summer. That ties the record for Amarillo -- a record that was set way back in 1953. There is little doubt we will smash that record, since there is no relief in sight and about two months of summer left to go.

I have to admit I don't like this at all. I had thought I had escaped the summers full of 100 degree days. Weather like this makes me long for winter -- which usually isn't too bad in Texas (even here in the Panhandle where we can count on some snow every year). I certainly hope it's another 48 years before we have another summer like this.

Thanks for listening to me whine a bit. I just had to do it.

How Does This Still Happen ?

What the hell is wrong with people? I don't understand how some people think, or maybe it's because they don't think. You don't have to live in Texas to know how hot it gets here in the summertime. It usually gets near or at 100 degrees in June and doesn't let up until sometime in October.

So how is it that people will still leave babies or young children locked in their automobile, while they go shopping in a nice air-conditioned store. It makes me wonder if they care at all for those little kids. You don't have to be a rocket-scientist to know the "greenhouse effect" causes the temperature to quickly rise to very dangerous levels in an automobile sitting in the Texas sun.

But it has happened again. About 5:15 pm last Tuesday, a passerby noticed a baby locked in a car in a Wal-Mart parking lot. The temperature at the time was about 98 degrees. The good samaritan broke the car window, got the baby out and called 9-1-1. That was exactly the right thing to do. You can never know how long the child has been in that dangerous heat, or how much longer they have before succumbing to it.

The baby was taken to the hospital, where it was determined that it was OK. Meanwhile, the mother (pictured above) was arrested as she returned to her car. She said she thought her mother had taken the baby, and anyway, she was only in the store for about 10 minutes.

Those are some pitiful excuses! Didn't you go into the store with your mother? Couldn't you see she wasn't carrying a baby? Don't you know that even 10 or 15 minutes can be deadly to a baby in that kind of heat? We can only hope that the courts will get this young woman's attention.

Sadly, that won't be the last time this happens this summer. I imagine at least three or four (or even more) instances of this will happen this summer here in Texas. It always does. Just what the hell is wrong with these people?