The fish in my aquarium--tropical fish from the Amazon and rainforests of Asia--are dying! It's too hot in New York right now. The heat wave has killed people I'm sure...but I have never seen tropical freshwater fish die from overheating in room temperature, and I have been taking care of fish for 20 years.
Today I lost 3 Harlequin Rasboras and 3 Cardinal Tetras. The last heatwave that came through about a month ago killed a rare plecostomus, for which I forgot the name and have not seen another.
Melting, I entered the elevator before I found the death pool waiting for me in my 99 degree apartment. A woman came in gasping for air.
"It's so bad," she said referring to the extreme heat oppressing us, still even at 11pm. "I had to call the ambulance yesterday."
"Oh no, what for?"
"I have asthma...and I can't breath in this. Listen to me...even now..." she couldn't complete her sentence without breaking for air. "I gotta get back to the air conditioner."
The doors opened and she quickly rushed to her apartment for relief. My "I hope you feel better" was met by the backs of her heels and a swinging elevator door.
I enter my apartment. It is an ungodly thing to open the door to your home and feel as if you are literally stepping into a sauna. As the thick, humid air wrapped around my sweaty body I am wondering wtf is up with New York? How can people live like this? This is not normal. Even my fish from tropical rainforests and the Amazon are dying.
Quinn, I was just back in Iowa and agree, the heat, and especially the humidity, was oppressive. I'm glad to be back in Cali with the dry heat.
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