.....and you think it's *me* who's weird?

Imagine Dave the alien from another world being given a guide to our culture in this (2019) hot summer:

Guide: "Yeah, when the minimal protection that we get from our atmosphere falls to almost zero and the radiation from our sun reaching ground level rises to dangerous and unhealthy levels, it's possible to suffer burns if you go outside unprotected for as little as ten minutes and lasting skin damage in not much longer."

Dave: "Oh my, I guess you close the shutters and stay inside then until the met office say it's safe to go outside again?"

Guide: "No, 90% of people go to the nearest coast, take off most of their clothes and sit for hours on hot pebbles or sand just staring at the ocean, rubbing salt and sand on their skin, and take their children along to teach them how to do it in a socially-acceptable way! Some of them add cream to their skin too, to create a kind of grinding paste when it mixes with the sand."

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  • I've been up early today - cleared up the garden ready for the lawnmower men to arrive and opened all the windows to let the cool morning air blow through before the sun gets going.

    I've probably got another hour before I close everything to stop the hot air coming in.