It's hot in Arizona, Weatherbug says so

This popped up the other day on my Weatherbug app...

An Excessive Heat Warning Remains In Effect Until 8 PM MST /8 Pm
Pdt/ Sunday.

• Affected Area...Lower Deserts Of Arizona And Southeast
California...As Well As Higher Elevations East Of Phoenix...
And Joshua Tree National Park.

• Temperature...Afternoon Highs Between 115-121 Are Expected
Across The Lower Deserts...And Highs Between 98-110 In The
Higher Elevations.

I've lived in the metro Phoenix area most of my life and remember the historic 122 degree day in 1990 that made a stroll to the mailbox akin to a hike through Death Valley.

At this point, that anything over 95F makes national news  is laughable to me.  Thing is, Arizona's known for being one big dusty frying pan.  Sure we have pine covered mountaintops and even ski slopes but in the end nobody thinks winter wonderland when it comes to Arizona. 

That is, unless you're a snowbird seeking refuge from the worst of the four seasons in our fair (and I do mean FAIR as in so-so) locale.

The environmental types will point to global warming while the corporate types will just accept the desert for what it is, hot and dry.

I don't believe nature has much to do with 122F temps, however.  I live in an area that's quadrupled its population in less than a generation and occupies a developed land mass larger than some states.  All the concrete and asphalt that comprise what developers call "planned communities" turns into one giant solar oven for half the year.

Home values are increasing even though wages and the cost of living aren't but still they come.  The state competes with 4 others for dwindling water sources but that doesn't stop them.  So long as the chamber of commerce is handing out bottled water all is well.

More people, more pollution, more needless aggravation.  Backward standards of labor stuck in a 19th century sweatshop mentality make it worse.  More traffic means more roads means more concrete tombs where hapless victims spend 8 hours a day with air conditioners spinning up the fortunes of the power companies. 

The result...

122 degrees.

It was a hot day in Arizona...

It was another hot day in Arizona.  The temperature was exceedingly high even for the first day of June.  As I navigated my way home from work through a morass of overheated vehicles and their similarly afflicted drivers I happened to notice a billboard displaying the current temperature, 111 degrees Fahrenheit. 

An angry Red sun slowly setting in the west, twisted and distorted by the byproduct of dreary daily commutes both past and present seemed to punctuate the mood.   It seemed as if nature itself was making dour commentary on our goings on.

Not that this commute was any more eventful than any other, it wasn't.  The usual cast of characters largely oblivious to the other participants in this risky game were all present.   All have a role.

The impatient jackrabbit convinced that his commuting brethren conspire to impede his progress at every turn.   Darting amongst the less expedient every gap is an opportunity if you're lucky he may take the time to signal before traversing 4 lanes of traffic.

The mule, an overloaded landscape truck with its poorly secured load.  Pavement or windshield which one takes the blow only time can tell.  Only a fool would risk taking a position behind him, many fools do.

The conscientious driver determined to enforce every posted limit even at their own peril.  This is the sworn enemy of the jackrabbit.  The Tortoise versus the hare or so it seems.  A deadly dance that never questions if but when the race ends in twisted metal astride a flatbed truck.

The distracted driver more concerned with the status of their Facebook page than the fiery flare of the brake lights they're rapidly approaching. 

Countless permutations and combinations exist.  We've been them all at one point or another and the memory conjured is never cherished. 

It's a basic rule of nature that most unpleasant experiences are indicators that something's gone awry and needs correction.

A body at rest stays at rest, a body in motion stays in motion.  Daily commutes run afoul of this basic tenet of science. 

Technology is all around us perhaps to our own detriment but regardless of your opinion it permeates every waking hour. 

Why then, with the world at our fingertips do we continue a ritual firmly embedded in 19th century realities no longer relevant 2 centuries later.

Perhaps it's a shoehorn mentality.  Ill fitting shoes can still be worn if forced on the wearer.  Ignore the pain and the blood, the shoe is firmly in place and all is as it should be at least according to convention.  The pain must be endured else the shortcomings of a failing model be revealed.

We commute to passable occupations, accept schedules contrary to our potential and immerse ourselves in misery for the sake of pointless timesinks that barely enrich our personal coffers let alone our lives.

Wake up!  It doesn't have to be this way but it takes the painful act of crawling out of your conformity and demanding more of the limited time you have left to walk on this rock.

Think about it.