Well, so it was predicted on Friday, a day when we couldn't really even comprehend of how hot it would get.
It got incredibly hot.
This last weekend Cape Town surpassed its own hottest recorded temperature ever by 3 degrees Celsius and clocked in a whopping 45.2C on Saturday.
It's been confirmed that we were the hottest place in southern Africa and you know, we'll take it. No need to go into direct competition with mid Australia ffs - Saturday and Sunday were hot enough and scary enough, we don't need any more accolade than that.
It was a weekend for lying down and avoiding really. And that's mostly what we did.
Lying down and napping with the blinds closed. Drinking litres of water and moving slowly and mainly trying not to think about climate change.
Our children might never live on the same planet as polar bears Frieda tells her sister over dinner.
Yeah but, people told us that when we were younger too I say, and you do.
Now recycle that container and don't use too much water rinsing it out.
Balancing the messaging is hard.
Then on Sunday we received a clip from family in the UK, a short capture from The Green Planet - Sir David Attenborough's latest series on BBC. It features an interview with my little brother.
My little brother as a whole ass PHD on ecology change being featured in an Attenborough series. Five year old Frieda would have EXPLODED with wonderment and joy. Fourteen year old Frieda was pretty damn excited. As were we all.
The clip was on fire (our fynbos needs it) and particularly the fire lilies which lie dormant for years (and years) waiting for fire and then blooming within days of one - making themselves the only source of nectar for miles and guaranteeing pollination (seems rather dramatic but then, nature). The takeaway was that fires are getting more frequent, hotter, faster and fragile ecosystems like this are in real danger.
Sobering stuff. And yet also, miraculous.
As is life.
PS, while writing this post I came across this one, and it seemed an apt reminder that we've been at the brink of societal collapse before... and also, jeez we've weathered a LOT in recent years.
2 comments:
Our Canadian summers are disturbingly hot now too. I worry about my children and especially my granddaughter. Googling your brother now.
Hey DB, yeah - it's such a difficult thing to navigate, because we can't live in daily fear and concern, but the reality that it's happening cannot be denied. Sometimes the girls talk about their children and I honestly wonder if they'll still consider having them by the time they're adults. And then I feel terrible that they may have to make those choices...
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