Climate Change Topics

Last year, two books came into my life.  Dark books.  The first by Cormick McCartry THE ROAD , a story about a man and his boy walking a ruined and frightening planet.  One gets the feeling the destruction was more nuclear than climate change.  The very next book that fell on my lap was THE BEAR by Andrew Krivak which was not quite so dark.  This one, a man and his daughter are walking the planet which the Reader gets the feeling that a pandemic may have been the cause of the end of humanity.  It was well written.  I do not recommend either of these books to anyone who might feel negatively affected by dark and emotionally-charged words.  These may not be great books for the current pandemic-turning-to-endemic climate......

However, it is weird when books land in your lap in a narrow time slot and have similar messages.  Again, this has happened to me recently.  The first book THE INVENTION OF NATURE by Andrea Wulf was one discovered from Ryan Holiday, a guy who makes his living reading books and tell us followers what the books he is reading are all about.  Alexander von Humboldt was an adventurer and the first person to recognize man's impact on changing the climate.  This was pre 1800's and he was most likely the first to give climate change a name.  The next book that came to my lap (well, really my ears as all of my book reading is done through Audible!), was CLOUD CUCKOO LAND by Anthony Doerr.  This one took some work to recollect where the recommendation originated - thank you Mary Austin for bringing me this wonderfully written, delightfully crafted, and enormously entertaining book!  The topic of climate change threads through the many stories told as the author guided us from BC to 2085 time eras.  There was a Siri aboard a ship to answer your every question (her name was Sybil) and a library fashioned just like Google!  The characters become real beings jumping off the pages.  Well read, I strongly recommend this in Audible format, this well-crafted adult story tale. 

Meanwhile, a wicked fire has touched a town east of us and we all watch, horrified.  This article, sent to me by one of our County Commissioners, tells the story of panic, disbelief, and very high winds the residents in the Colorado communities of Louisville and Superior experience.  We are reminded that when there is high wind, fire becomes a Monster.  Wind is a four letter word.  The "lessons" of climate change bang around in my brain after reading these two books and watching the news of this urban landscape conflagration.  

So 2022 begins.  Our paid staff and volunteers are suffering with COVID infections.  Many are out sick and staffing is very very skinny.  Our ability to respond is crippled.  The ambulance is currently driving to a remote location in our county for a woman with COVID symptoms.  I am on duty Saturday and Sunday and have ominous foreboding concerns about what our organization will "look" like by then.  A storm brews to the west with predictions of heavy snow and blowing winds making emergency response even more challenging.  

By nature, I am an optimist and can usually find good in most anything.  Today, I am trying to find some ray of light, some positivity in this daunting world of pandemics and climate change. 

There are 88 working days left until I retire.  Maybe that is today's positive thought. 

Stay well. Stay positive.  We are all in this thing together.   

The picture below is why buying an amaryllis bulb is so rewarding!!