Linen Shirts, Flannel Slacks, and Boiling Frogs

And I just thought we were having a warm summer! As it turns out, the whole world is burning up. According to the World Meteorological Association, 2007 is breaking records for extreme weather events in general, and heat in particular. In other words, it isn't just Des Moines. As a world -- or is it as a country; or is it as a government -- we have been trying to make up our minds about this whole "global warming" thing. Meanwhile, completely disregarding our collective ambivalence, the globe has been busily warming. This is particularly distressing to me since my favorite clothes are winter varieties -- flannels, wools, sweaters and turtlenecks. At this rate, I'll have less and less need for them. And I just don't look that good in shorts.

Unfortunately, the subject doesn't lend itself to flippant humor. Despite our politicians' wrangling and our economic apprehensions, this is serious business. It isn't a matter of comfort -- there are those, I'm told, who would rather sweat than shiver -- it is about the resilient but ultimately fragile web of creation, interrelated, strand into strand, that gets turned and shifted and wounded and warped by even single degrees of change. A thermostat that we seem to be ratcheting higher and higher, to compounding effects. Ice melting. Tides shifting. Insects spreading. Diseases spreading. Agricultural reversals. Forest fires recurring. Habitats deteriorating. And who knows what else.

Meanwhile, we sit behind our Ray-Bans, sip our lemonade, and enjoy the pool. Like children, believing that if we can't see it, if we pay no attention, it doesn't really exist.

Or like boiled frogs. According to the story, if a frog is dropped into a pot of boiling water it will recognize the danger and jump out. But, if a frog is placed in a pot of cool water that is slowly heated, the frog will eventually boil to death -- no doubt laughing smugly at those on the counter nearby shouting warnings of the approaching fate.

Today has been another scorcher; unusually hot for Iowa. It has been that way all summer. Ah, but winter is only a few months away.

Perhaps. Ribbit.