Kansas Snapshots by Gloria Freeland - July 17, 2026

Withering weather

About 150 years ago, writer Charles Dudley Warner observed, "Everybody complains about the weather, but nobody does anything about it." His friend Mark Twain quoted him. Today, many think the witticism was coined by Twain.

That error has been compounded by another - the second part is now false. Collectively, we humans have done something "about it" and we saw that up-close and personal on our recent trip to Wales. Husband Art and I arrived just after a heat wave left that country, and then returned to our home in Kansas just as another was arriving.

One of the factors that once made the UK an especially popular U.S. tourist destination is we speak a common language. But English has expanded its reach and can now be heard in almost every corner of the globe. So it seems a bit strange that the country who gave us our temperature scale abandoned it better than 50 years ago. For some time after the switch, many Brits were familiar with both. But that generation has largely passed. So when we said temperatures back home reached 90, we generally received a blank stare, sometimes followed by, "What is that in centigrade?"

And it isn't just the Brits who switched. While we soldier on using the Fahrenheit scale, the next-largest country in the world that uses it is Liberia, a place about the size of Louisiana. This means that wherever you are in the world, once a weather discussion moves past those of the most general nature, math will be involved.

I know 0 C is where water freezes and corresponds to 32 F. Water boils at 212 F and that equates to 100 C. Art keeps reminding me that 23 C is room temperature - 73.4 F to be precise. But when someone complained it would be hot with the temperature reaching 30, my immediate reaction was it sounded like a cold snap. But even after doing the conversion, 86 F seems like a nice summer day to this Kansas girl.

However, I must admit that I don’t tolerate temperature extremes as well as I once did. Art says it is the same for him, although he still doesn't seem to have a problem with cold. Until the temperatures dip below zero - that's about -20 C for the rest of the world - he can be found wandering about in his all-season garb, a.k.a. shorts. He can do that because, well, let’s just say he is better insulated than I am.

For most of our nearly month-long stay in Wales, the highs were about 65 F and the lows were near 50 F - nearly ideal for common daytime activities and restful sleeps at night.

But then temperatures began to climb. It was about 76 F outside when our host Lins and her mother stopped by our bungalow for a chat. Inside, the temperatures were lower, yet Lins had a small personal battery-driven fan with her. She used it several times and was clearly warm. We simultaneously felt bad for her, yet were amused as we were quite comfortable. For a Kansan, such a mid-June day would have been judged ideal.

But Lins isn't a Kansan. Where she lives, the late-July upper-temperature extreme averages 79 F. We saw this difference in heat tolerance at the choir practice we attended the following evening. Choristers stayed outside until the very last minute with doors wide open and a large fan in one corner. They practiced, but not with their normal vigor. It was just too hot! As one put it in a typically understated British manner, "It's almost tropical!"

We also watched the evening weather reports with mixed emotions. We found it amusing to hear references to temperatures in the upper 70s referred to as a heat wave, yet we had seen how quiet the normally-bustling town shopping areas were near midday. It was not one bit funny to them.

In the summer of 2024, our friend Jan's two grandchildren, Courtney and Sam, wanted to see where we lived. Since their schooling meant they had to visit in August, we were glad they accepted our invitation to visit at our place in Wisconsin. We doubted they would have enjoyed Kansas in the peak of summer heat.

To make matters worse, Brits have traditionally had more problems with staying warm and so, most bedrooms are on the second floor. Since many homes are made of stone and quite old, adding air conditioning is expensive. With electricity rates between two-to-three times higher than in the States, most Brits just endure. Even where air conditioning is present, such as the new airport terminal at Manchester, the units are often not properly sized for current conditions. The consequence is while the air is cool enough, the moisture level remains high. So a person can sit and feel cold, but when moving about commences, so does sweating.

The day we arrived back home, Wales broke its all-time highest temperature mark with a reading of 95 F, surpassing the previous high by 2 degrees. The official meteorology office was "extending its current red extreme heat warning." Rail travel was to be done only if "absolutely necessary," according to the British Broadcasting Company. Many train routes were cancelled. Hundreds of schools closed.

And Britain wasn't even experiencing the worst of it. Our "adopted son" Tim sent a message from Berlin, which he described as "from one devil's den to another devil's den." Germany was expecting 100 F. A news article said the A2 Autobahn east of Berlin was breaking up due to the heat. Our friend Celine texted from France, where she is a teacher. She said the high school was "scorching hot.' Art suggested they close the schools, but she noted it was exam time.

So as Warner suggested, there was certainly a lot of weather talk, but Lins did choose to do something about it. She broke out her shorts!