So hot you can fry a blogger on the sidewalk

It's so hot that playgrounds are catching on fire. And melting.

This morning, in the nice, cool and ridiculously expensive comfort of my air-conditioned house, I read in the paper a story about a playground that spontaneously combusted. No children were around but cameras caught the action. Apparently, the heavy rains earlier this summer left the wood chips on the playground saturated and ultimately decomposing beneath the heat, making the area flammable. Last week's high temperatures ignited that stuff which then melted the plastic playground equipment.

I've had an occasional mental mirage when suffering beneath heat like we're having here, because I picture it being me sizzling and bubbling on the concrete and not the egg in the "so hot you could fry an egg on the sidewalk" elevator talk I hear all too often in my office building. But I've never imagined playgrounds catching on fire and slides and swing sets melting. I wonder what happened to the day when good old earth was an acceptable playground floor. What's wrong with grass and dirt? You never heard about spontaneously combusting playgrounds when I a kid.

People, that is hot.