The malaise of summer
Everyone thinks of summer and the activities that correspond – licking ice cream cones, swimming, boats, vacations.
Well, make no mistake – summer’s biggest activity is non-activity because it is so hot – and in New Orleans every day is a dog day. This week is an inverse of last week. Last week, we got up every morning and by seven o’clock you couldn’t breathe because the humidity and heat were so high but by one or two in the afternoon a big huge thunderstorm would roll in and make the world more bearable.
This week, we are starting our mornings overcast, a touch cooler, with a thunderstorm around nine in the morning and then the heat begins to surge. And surge. And surge. But since we’ve already had our storm – there is no relief in sight.
Why do violent crimes escalate in the summer? Who has the energy to do anything like kill someone else? I can barely flick a mosquito off my skin.