It's August in America and angst is in the air. Obviously, it's August everywhere, but in America, it's a time that creeps up like a sweaty surprise, even though it's right there on the calendar. While Europeans have the common sense to vacation during the month of August, we Americans muddle along, and for the most part shuttle from air-conditioned space to air-conditioned space like ants avoiding the bright beam from a massive magnifying glass in the heavens. Weathermen across the nation breathlessly tell us how hot it is and, more importantly, how hot it actually "feels." Global warming aficionados (both pro and con) point out the latest examples to prove or disprove the trend. And then there are the many stories on drought. Never mind that drought conditions exist year-round. In August, it just makes for better TV to do stories on unhinged homeowners washing their cars, or to show water skiers traversing the lake surface well below the reservoir's bathtub ring.
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