06/17/2026
True confession: I am a lady of a certain age who starts sweating at 70 degrees and 20% humidity. I can feel the prickle on top of my head before the sweat even starts. I can see the rising temperatures shimmering like a mirage on every surface.
And I still stand there thinking just 20 more minutes. It got me pondering heat illness. How many of us keep working when we know we are getting too hot? We try to push through hoping some magical cool breeze will show up on a hot sunny day.
That is how heat actually gets you. First come the muscle cramps. Then the heavy sweating, dizziness, nausea, and that cold clammy feeling that seems wrong for a hot day. That's heat exhaustion and it's your body waving a red flag. Ignore it and you're looking at heat stroke. Temperature spikes to 104 or above. Skin goes hot and dry. And then the cruel part: you get confused. Your judgment fails exactly when you need it most. You lose the ability to recognize you're in danger right when the danger is highest.
Just 20 more minutes has a sneaky way of becoming a 911 call.
