Idaho Will Bake This Week like Every Summer

You already know what it’s like to burn yourself by touching a hot spot on your car door. And you know enough not to wear shorts on the vinyl seats. Walking across the parking lot at Walmart from a parking space 100 yards from the door is like dancing on a stove. None of these can compete with my most memorable heat experience. I was driving through the desert from Blackfoot and past Idaho National Laboratory. Probably in the summer of 2016. It was hot. There were mirages on the highway and a haze in the sky.

As I turned toward home I came upon Craters of the Moon and decided to visit and take some pictures. The heat was blistering. I had a pair of new sneakers on my feet. I started walking along an asphalt path and discovered my steps were difficult. The pavement beneath my feet was melting. The breeze was hot like you feel when you open an oven to remove a baked pizza.

There are going to be people who’ll tell you this week that the world is coming to an end, and that we’re responsible because we sin against Gaia or Mother Earth. But we’ve survived the heat, cold, and worse. Just look around the landscape at Craters of the Moon. The volcanic activity was only a millennia ago. Some of our terrain was carved by glacial activity. Records indicate some people arrived as the ice retreated, and even some may have arrived earlier.

I would prefer every day to be sunny, 75 degrees, and with a slight breeze. I may not like triple-digit temperatures, but I prefer the heat to the blowing and drifting snow we saw during last January’s blizzard. Come to think about it, over a life that has stretched more than 60 years, I’ve experienced multiple blizzards and heat waves. I’ve lived through a few earthquakes, hurricanes, and floods. As did my parents and grandparents and the people before them. And in a few months, most people will be complaining about the cold.