Yes, it is hot in our new home state of Florida. We knew that for years. We have visited our daughter here for more than 20 years, so we were well aware of the type of blistering heat the Sunshine State produces.
I don't mind the heat. We have air conditioning and ceiling fans and a nice front porch that is sheltered by towering oaks. Our cars are cool, the stores can sometimes be frigid, and all the restaurants are comfortable. Even our golf cart gives us a nice breeze as we putt-putt our way around the development.
But, the heat can be deadly. Recently, there have been stories in our local paper about senior citizens who succumb to the heat and babies who die in cars. I get very upset at those stories. Doesn't the senior citizen have any neighbors who watch out for her? Doesn't the baby have caring parents?
Memory is a tricky thing. Perhaps the senior citizen just forgot to let someone know that she was uncomfortably hot. Perhaps the parent just "forgot" the baby in the car. As I write this, I am shaking my head with exasperation. Sure, I have left my keys locked in my car once or twice. I even left my lunch bag on the back seat for 8 hours in the South Carolina heat. But, forgetting a baby? A live child?
What could possibly preoccupy a parent so drastically that she forgets that there is an infant buckled in a car seat? Has our society become so frantic and inhuman that children are so inconsequential?
I did a little informal s