Heads in hot sand

During our recent visit to California, I was invited to my nephew's away tennis game at an extremely posh private high school near Santa Barbara. It was so lush and manicured that we honestly thought we had taken a wrong turn and were in some elite country club. There were pepper trees planted around the courts we sat next to, and mulch all around. The effect was on on a very hot, sunny day we were able to sit in comfort. A week later, we got invited to his inland public high school for a match. I checked the forecast (33C / 91F), and I did some reconnaissance online and discovered that there were few trees, no shade and pavement everywhere. We weren't just thinking of my elderly family members when we declined the offer. In spite of all of the air conditioning and creature comforts, life for the not-super-rich in southern California seemed harder than it was in Portugal when I lived there twenty years ago. And this was all down to expectations that life should carry on as normal with…