There is a terrible heat wave going on these days around Toronto.
Believe it or not...the temperature here was 44 degrees celsius yesterday in the afternoon, which is ridiculous considering that Canada is totally not supposed to be so hot... even in summer.
Come to think of it, the winters are growing shorter here. Skiing / skating season used to last for almost half of a year not too long ago. Even a couple of years ago, the cold (and by Mumbai standards I mean really really cold) season would stretch from about late October to late march, with a few snowstorms, freezing rains and bursts of skeeting snow thrown in for seasoning. This time though, the winter hardly lasted from sometime in November to end February.
All this left plants and animals confused too. The thing about the plants here is that they seem to know that there would not be much time for them to really grow and enjoy the warmth of the sun, and hence they would grow green and sprout leaves and flowers the instant it becomes warm, as if they are making the most of the warmth after standing bare during the long winters. The christmas trees are an exception and they are among the few trees that have any covering during the winter months, but the vast majority of the flora here go through alternate phases of abundance of leaves and flowers and bare branches. So, these trees were already green in early Feb, before nature remembered that it was too early for spring, and allowed us another fortnight or so of snow. It was quite funny to see the leaves turning red, brown, etc (which usually happens in autumn) within a few days of their first appearance, getting shed, and the trees growing all bare again; and then tiny green leaves started appearing again in march. The animals didn't get enough sleep (hibernation) either, and there were reports of bears having woken up from their hibernation cycles months early...and very tired and I bet, a bit grumpy too...I certainly would be grumpy if I didn't get enough sleep.
Seems like global warming is indeed coming rushing at us by the day.
Getting back to the heat wave, there are advisories in pamphlets being issued by the local authorities these days telling us, among other things, why it is so important to keep ourselves hydrated. It contained a curious anecdote about how our blood is composed of 83% water and brain is (apparently) composed of more than 90% water. Seriously! Our brain is supposed to be more fluid-like than blood. That's so strange and in an odd way...disturbing. It also makes me look at the silly phrase 'dimaag ki dahi mat bana' in a new way now :-D...