You know it has been hot, bleeping hot, when you look up into the sky and are glad to see clouds, beautiful clouds. Last night on the news they were saying we had had 17 days of sunny weather and would get a few more before any clouds would provide any RELIEF. When I got up this morning we had CLOUDS1 and the day was nice and cool, a little respite from the searing sun. I was actually disappointed to see the sun come back out by noon.

I want to remind people that one of the dangers the homeless face is trouble in finding adequate amounts of drinking water. In the heat this can pose a threat to health, even to life. Think about it. When you want water it is as near as a tap. But for the homeless there is no convenient tap and very few places where it is possible to find safe drinking water. If the opportunity should present itself, please be thoughtful and share the gift of water.

The news has also been full of warnings about the fact that with changes to the ozone and atmosphere the sun(light) burns our skin faster and deeper than ever before. They advise staying out of the sun and when you must be in sunlight, using a sun screening product. I was reminded of the potency of the sun these days when cash flow and car insurance timing resulted in my walking everywhere last week – under that blazing, merciless sun. It served as a hot, sweaty reminder of just how exposed to the elements, whether the rain deluge of the past winter or this stretch of hot, burning sunlight; homeless =NO shelter = no place to seek refuge from the scorching rays of the sun = sunburn, perhaps sunstroke. The homeless I know and meet have, over this sunny period, been burned deep tan or lobster red.

Police recidivism, in a return to their police state tactics in their treatment of the homeless, has meant that when the homeless stop somewhere in the shade, to get away from the torrid heat of the sun, they are quickly driven back under the burning rays of our sun. A homeless woman I know and ran into last night was red as a lobster. She was also … shall we say, “extremely displeased” with the fact her sunburn was a result of the police constantly chasing her out of whatever shade she could find and back into the fiery light. To make this waste of time, chasing the homeless around in the unforgiving heat, even more intolerable is the fact that they are sitting on their posteriors in an air-conditioned car supplied by the taxpayers. This senseless pursuit of the homeless is undoubtedly cooler and far easier than getting off their Asses and out of their air-conditioned vehicle in seeking out gang activity or to solve property crimes. Earn the wages by the sweat of their brow? You must be kidding, how much easier to chase the helpless who lack a home in air-conditioned comfort, when the city appears perfectly content to let them wile away their shifts harassing the homeless and driving them back under the incandescent, broiling rays of our sun.