A long time ago, when I was studying at Oxford, the modern history exam opened with, “Revolutions occur where oranges grow. Discuss.” Absurd on first reading, when you think about it there are numerous questions about the relationship between climate and history that it might provoke.
England is hardly the place for oranges, usually. But after weeks of moaning about no summer, we’re having what passes for a heat wave in these parts. That’s great, when you can do things outdoors. If you need to work, however, it’s more difficult, particularly since I (like most people here) don’t have air conditioning. After all, if you need it for only a couple of weeks each year, it makes even less economic than environmental sense.
As someone raised in Chicago, I was taught to believe “you think better in the cold”. Right now, I think that’s undoubtedly true.