Tbilisi, 1911.

Sweltering summer temperatures seem to be just part of the reason why the people of Tbilisi, Georgia, tend to see the apocalypse hurtling toward them from all directions. From an interesting New York Times report by Ellen Barry:

“Word that scorpions had been sighted on her street clinched it, as far as Nana Beniashvili was concerned.

The giant locusts had been bad enough, and the snakes, which are known in Georgian as ‘that which cannot be mentioned.’ She actually hadn’t seen any scorpions herself, but she believed that one of her neighbors had, and in the asphalt-melting, earth-parching, brain-scrambling heat of midsummer, she was not in the mood to be fastidious about evidence.

‘This means the apocalypse is coming,’ said Ms. Beniashvili, 72, who was leaning out of a window. ‘I cannot tell you exactly when, because I am not very knowledgeable about this. But it is clear that the apocalypse is coming. The world has gone crazy.

‘Anyway, I hope we will survive,’ she sighed, and went inside to look for lemonade.”

••••••••••

UFOs attack Tbilisi: