the watch of time

Currently, in the Ottawa, Ontario area, midsummer weather has returned with a vengeance.

After most of this summer being of a relatively moderate mode, with concomitant complaints from those who prefer more opportunity to fry their skin, in the last week of the season and beyond we have hit a heat wave, which any prolonged period in mid summer would be proud of. Running several degrees above normal, both daytime and evening, it just goes on, getting even hotter, but more significantly more humid.

Thankfully, at least the evening starts to cool down earlier as we get deeper into September sunsets.

Note that my opening comment included an ominous image. I’m among those who struggle to cope energy-wise as levels of humidity rise, especially when the moisture-imbued atmosphere lingers for a protracted time. After a period of seasonal temperatures, the impact has been forceful.

It is frankly annoying that media coverage of local weather seems unabashedly in the ‘hotter the better’ camp. Apparently, we are supposed to get out there and bask, no matter how humid it gets. I’ve met people who enjoy humidity. Lucky them. Good for them.

However, what about those of us who, I feel not selfishly, would be more comfortable with temperatures within shouting distance of the daily average? Alas, we are labelled either wimps or going to regret our seeking moderation when the cold ‘dead’ of winter strikes. By feeling heat differently, we are made to feel like a minority group to be largely disregarded.

These days there’s a lot of sentiment devoted to inclusion. In practice it excludes many, not in sync with publicly popular positions.

Another example is the deference of media and many in the public at large, to the British royal family. No family of royals in the world, at least based on exposure observed in Canada and to some extent the U.S., gets the kind of airplay, or print coverage, that Queen Elizabeth and her family assembly get.

We understand that there are royals’ watchers, and societies in support; but why are mundane scenes deemed so newsworthy, and higher profile events deemed worth extended coverage and ‘analysis’ on otherwise more rational outlets? Note that rational in this context refers to those managing time or space allocation for foreign, human interest stories, not to evaluating their presentation philosophy.

It’s fine to say, ‘don’t sweat the small stuff’. It’s not an unreasonable to try to include this in one’s basic outlook. But sometimes wrong treatment, or attitudes, experienced can create frustration, emerging as a ripple, growing negatively as the catalyst drags on in time.