Why am I starting with a satellite image of the northern California on this post? To show you that there is absolutely nothing between me and the sun today. No clouds, no precipitation, and from where I’m going to be in just a few minutes (the pool), not even a tree to block the insultingly hot rays from striking my delicate white skin.

When I was younger, my body would tan rapidly in the summer. I was always at the pool or doing something outdoors and so the melatonin levels in my skin would give me a glistening golden tan for the summer and into the winter. As I aged, I was inside more often than outside, and certainly today I’m not getting much of a tan sitting under the fluorescent lights of work. Actually since we’ve cut 50% of the lighting for power savings it’s even harder to get a tan at work unless I actually go outside.

These days I’m lucky if I get a mild sunburn since I have eschewed the outdoors and prefer to be in places where my eyes aren’t watering from too much light. Having an astigmatism does cause sunlight to be a problem, but it’s more that I just don’t like the sun. I realize the importance it has on our planet and our life, but seriously, does it have to be so hot? Couldn’t it be just a little bit cooler and we’d still have enough to survive? There are tons of other stars in the galaxies that aren’t nearly as hot as the sun and they seem to be doing just fine. Plus – they don’t burn out as quickly.

I mean, does the planet really need temperatures of 123 in habited areas? I don’t think so. I think the sun should do better at managing that. Send more heat to far away places like Neptune and Pluto, but dial it down a bit for the Sacramento region. There has to be a switch or a dial or some sort of knob, or even a timer.

I think I’m going to put in a call to somebody about that. I’ll let you know what they say.