We certainly have some exciting disasters going on this summer, from heatwaves and forest fires to tsunamis and tornados. And in the face of chaos a girl like me has her cute disasterwear firmly on.
That's not jewellery, those are ultratech crimefighting gadgets |
I mentioned a forest fire on the hill I live on a couple of weeks ago that required the intervention of a helicopter. This week we have a much bigger fire on the mountain above town that's already been burning for three days and has two helicopters and four Canadair tankers dealing with it as well as firemen and volunteers on the ground.
Canadair tanker heading towards the fire |
Given that the thermometer in the coolest, shadiest outdoor spot of my home reads 36C (97F) in the afternoons, I don't know how those firefighters have been coping in the blazing sun on a bare mountainside (apparently about 42C, or 107F). That's truly heroic. Although an absence of dwellings there means no-one's in danger, it also means a lack of roads and paths means they have to scrabble around the steep, broken landscape on foot. The tanker planes fly endlessly, filling up from the sea, flying up to the fire and dumping their load before returning to the sea, again and again and again from dawn till dusk. (We won't go into apocryphal stories of scuba divers found lying in the charred remains of burnt forests!)
The smell of woodsmoke is everywhere and the chains of flames creeping over the crest of the hill the other evening was eerie. I hope they can get it out very soon.
Last week there was a lot of seismic activity in the Med (they've also discovered three new undersea volcanoes, so maybe the earth felt like having a celebration!) So we were greeted by this unusual, dead straight wave 1-2 metres high that stretched all along the coast as far as we could see. My neighbours and I reckoned was most likely due to underwater seismic activity, a mini tsunami if you will.
The
heatwave this week has been breaking records in the region. More
seriously, people have died as a result and others have been treated in
hospital for it. It should end at the weekend. At least, we hope so.
I cope better than most with heat but I have to confess that it's not easy at night. Thank goodness for the beautiful outdoor pool just below. And for my lovely microfibre underwear that I bought from Marks & Spencer's when I was last in the UK. Their pretty but practical bras are ideal and their microfibre briefs have been my touchstone for 20 years now. In this heat they are very light on the skin and mould to your contours. Recommended.
It always puzzled me as a kid that, when the going got tough, male superheroes put on extra armour, bigger protective capes and filled their utility belts with extra special gadgets. Whereas the superheroines seemed to lose clothes in the face of danger and fight in just a bikini and cute boots. Admittedly the bikini is radiationproof and bulletproof but it still leaves vulnerable areas... like most of the body! Even as a child I sensed there must therefore be something decidedly more heroic about the women than the men! So I guess if I'm going to combat natural disasters, this underwear will have to be the outfit. It's just too hot to wear anything else!
A dip in the archives
It was ten years ago that Emma and her wife came to London and we went to see the Cutty Sark sailing ship. I have some favourite photos from that day.
Sue x