Good morning, fellow residents of Hades! It is hot. That’s right, I used present tense, not future tense… and I mean IN-tense. I clocked 91 degrees this morning— at 4:45AM no less— at around 3000 ft. elevation. Admittedly, that elevation frequently enjoys the convection benefits of the “inversion layer” effect, and is often much warmer than lower elevations are. And, temps in flat parts were around 80 degrees or so, just a few minutes later. Still… that temp at that time? Wow.
Okay, traffic: The radio is erroneously reporting that a fatal accident has the I210 closed to westbound traffic, at the I215 overcrossing. However, it’s the EASTbound traffic that is stopped. Westbound is wide open, and at the time I went through, there was not even looky- loo slowing. The eastbound side looked bad… an apparently fatal accident, with emergency vehicles parked all across the freeway, and a 100% closure in effect.
So, despite the radio reports, your drive west should not be impacted. And, search as I may, there were no other hazards or obstacles or detriments to your drive, not that I could find. Even the bridge over the River Styx was wide open.
Wait, what? You know… that’s the river that flows around Hell, or something like that. I’m not totally clear on the whole concept, but I DO know that (A) it was impressive enough to name a band after it (I understand that Styx’s own Tommy Shaw lives right here on the mountain… big fan here, Tommy… give me a shout out if you are reading this!), and (B) “Hell” and “Hades” are words you’ll be hearing a lot today, because it’s going to be hotter than the two of those places combined and set on fire.
Last Sunday, I had the privilege of participating in a “Bigfoot Investigation,” with local researcher Raymond Ray, and star of Animal Planet’s, “Finding Bigfoot,” Matt Moneymaker, as they interviewed Robert Manressa of Big Bear, regarding his mysterious encounter with a beast of unknown lineage. You can even check out some of the footage from Sunday right here:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=NIY4GnBgIqk
Now, we didn’t locate any of the big fellas on Sunday. However, rumor has it that due to the current heat wave, it’s very likely that Bigfoot might shave his entire Bigfoot bod, then don light clothing (in order to blend in with the humans), and he’ll mingle with us at pools, air conditioned locales, beaches, or public events. He might look a little scary, abominable even… Yeti’s not likely to cause any trouble. Be sure to squatch any rumors that he’s a danger.
Also, because of the excessive heat, Smokey Bear might be running around today, reminding us that only WE can prevent forest fires. Don’t mistake him for Bigfoot… Bigfoot does not have a real badge. Wait… hold on: Neither does Smokey. But, only Smokey will be wearing pants, while going shirtless…. Wait… a… second…. That’s practically what was described in the previous paragraph. And now that I think about it, I have NEVER seen a picture of Smokey Bear AND Bigfoot together. Folks, the mystery has been solved: Smokey Bear IS Bigfoot!
Remember..It is Smokey Bear…no THE..just like there is no such thing as Easter THE Bunny or Big The Foot…;)
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Thank- you, Cyn! (Readers, the first draft of today’s post erroneously called the ol’ fella, “Smokey The Bear,” but has now been corrected).