By EDUARDO PAZ-MARTINEZThe Paz Files
AUSTIN, Texas - It'll be somewhere near or above 107 degrees here today, and it'll be the 20th day in a row of record heat. Somewhere, the clouds will explode with cool rains; here the word is that we may be in for some long days and a few of those cruel rolling blackouts.
Texas is on fire.
People are looking weird, the skinny scampering frantically through the grocery stores in search of bottled water, the fat ones moving in and out of stores carrying portable fans, and the rest heading for the airport. This is the hottest summer in eons. Dallas goes into its fourth day of almost 110 degrees. It's been in the low 90s at night in Austin.
Something happens to humans when it gets this hot, and not just for the criminals.
Civilized folks are being forced to make dramatic changes in an effort to survive. The management of KVUE-TV here recently posted a notice saying their reporters would not be filing field reports until the temperatures dropped. This was followed by an elaboration of sorts, when the same management said its reporters would, of course, respond to a "big story" wherever it happened. Listen up: "Big freakin' grass fire today in Burnet. Let's go to Bill Monteagudo in the studio for the latest." That sort of reporting.
Beyond fear of dying, there, too is fear of running out of water. Lake Buchanan and Lake Travis are slowly becoming dried-up open range, their levels scaring the Beejeezus out of lakefront business owners. Suburban cities are enforcing lawn watering as if we've seen the last rains on Earth. The dogcatcher is no longer the main villain in the neighborhoods; it's the code enforcement guy now. Lemonade sales are skyrocketing, even in the Vietnamese restaurants. Cold showers are being favored, indoor anything is the activity of the day.
A few miles north of Austin, in Round Rock, the AAA Express baseball team owned by major league hall-of-famer Nolan Ryan went out of its way to let fans know it would be 103 degrees at gametime last night. Pitchers were said to be secretly freezing baseballs before the game, players looking for trades that would take them north.
Who knows how long it will last? Local weathercasters are predicting no let-up for the next week, leading them to follow-up by saying Austin will reach the 30-day mark in plus 100-degree days. A month of Hell. Thirty days without relief.
It will take a merciful God to get us out of this oven...
- 30 -
6 comments:
Not that hot on the Texas coast, but it's in the upper 90s today. Typical Texas summer, tho
Oh, to be somewhere cold. Not gonna hapen here for a few months. Too bad. Life goes on.
It will get hotter before it cools off. Happens every year.
Did anyone read the Valley Morning Star and the article about a relative of a county commissioner having someone else take a test for him.
Ernie Hernandez is the name of the Commish.
Why is that Brownsville is so damn corrupted. Cheats, nothing but crooked politician.
I wouldn't vote for Rick Perry even if they payed me. He is so grossed out. I can't stand the man.
Something is gone wrong, the Market is all over the place, my 401k is disappearing. We need help, real bad.
Post a Comment