The Heat Is On

No, I am not talking about the date today (07/07/07) being a hot date for couples to get married as reported by the Straits Times and the New Paper.

My NS friend used to say that while temperate countries have 4 seasons, Singapore has only 2. If you think that they are dry and rainy, that's not what he said. He said, "Singapore's 2 seasons are hot and hotter". Although this friend often babbled nonsense, this was one of the rare occasions when he spoke a lot of sense. This time of the year must be the hotter season he was talking about.

With temperatures forecast to hit 33-34 deg Celsius (C) on a few hot days within these two weeks, the heat is on.

Coupled with high relative humidity of more than 90 percent, tonight felt hot as hell (pardon the pun). It was so bloody hot that a butterfly chose to rest inside my fan for some cool relief!

I just read news about western US states currently sweltering under a record heatwave. I immediately thought of Tigerfish who, according to information on her blogsite, is either in Singapore or California. I thought I saw a phrase "Now In Singapore" somewhere on her blog's side panel today. Looks like whether she is in Singapore or California, there is no escape from sweltering heat.

ABC News even reported that temperatures in part of the West were climbing so high that authorities warned residents of southern Nevada, southeastern California and northwestern Arizona that outdoor activities could be dangerous except during the cooler early morning hours. Phoenix reached 115 deg Fahrenheit (F); Baker, California, reached 125 deg F (52 deg C).

There was even the tragic news of 1-year-old boy being found dead on Wednesday evening in a locked car in temperatures approaching 100 deg F (38 deg C) in Orofino, Idaho. He was locked in the car for about 5 hours when passers-by noticed him. The boy's stepgrandmother was charged for his death.

Update:

In her comment to this post, Etel asked whether the insect in the above photo was a butterfly or a moth. According to her, the former rests with its wings spread open (like in the photo) while the later rests with its wings closed together. I am no naturalist but you know what... Etel may just be right. You see, an earlier photo I took of the insect was indeed with its wings closed:


Besides, I understand that butterflies are more colourful than moths. I think this insect is colourful enough to qualify as a butterfly, doesn't it? I would appreciate any comments from my naturalist friends like Otterman and Cool Insider.

Does anyone know how I managed to get the insect to open its wings for the top photo then?