The Long, Hot Summer

The first official day of summer came in like a lion.  On June 20, Atlanta’s temperature reached 90 degrees. The longest day of the year became the hottest day of the year so far. 

In this heat, wearing a mask to escape the Covid-19 virus is uncomfortable and suffocating unless in an air-conditioned car or store. A recent study published by Kayla Rivas was posted on Fox News Online entitled “Summer rays can inactivate coronavirus in 34 minutes.” The study said that the super-heated cities of Miami and Houston produced enough solar radiation to kill the virus in a short period of time.  In other less hot locations, the virus stays activated for a day or more.  The benefits of being outside in the sun outweigh being locked down in a house where the virus can more easily spread.  I am enjoying my fully opened moon roof on my car because the sun’s radiation is helping me to stay healthy. 

Things are also getting hot in our cities. Like the summer of 1967, race riots are the staple of the news.  It breaks my heart to see the damage done to people and property because of the actions of a few rogue police officers.  Changes need to be made, but defunding or dismantling police departments will only lead to more murder and anarchy.  Our freedom as Americans is at stake because freedom cannot flourish during instability.

Even Siberia is having a heat wave.  Verkhoyansk, a town north of the Arctic Circle, experienced 100.4-degree temperatures on the first day of summer. The residents are enjoying the unusual heat wave, but the melting permafrost is not good for the environment. Temperatures this high have not been recorded in this region for thousands of years.

What I’d really like to do to escape all the bad news of this summer is to stream the 1958 movie The Long Hot Summer with Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward.  It would take me back to my more carefree teenage years when life was easier. 

In the meantime, I must rely on God’s promise of peace in the midst of turmoil.

“Peace I leave with you, my peace I give you.

 I do not give to you as the world gives.

Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.”

John14:27