A Long Hot Week

So far this month has been a really hard one heat wise and today we finally have it a little cooler. The weather for northern Europe has been terrible, affecting transport and people in equal measures. Roads have been popping and snow ploughs have been used to spray water to try and save the damage, a new one on me. I have lived in a few hot countries, Spain and Australia included, but they are at least better prepared for the hot normalcy of summer in the high thirties. Up here in Northern Germany not so much. I remember, as a kid in Melbourne, running from outside tap to outside tap to cool my flip-flop shoed hot feet in high summer. In old town Spain the streets were narrow and well shaded plus the pavements were mostly ceramic and so better in the sun than cement or tarmac. The wider streets up here and the lack of tree lined avenues make shade a rarity indeed. Our old dog, from spain, used to move from shade to shade, reluctant to leave the shelter of the trees that provided it.…