Part of the fence blew down.
Like a missing tooth, the gap lets us see more than we'd wish to of our neighbor's backyard.
Some roads were closed today in Oakland until fallen trees across them could be removed.
Today was the first time I saw actual photos of Australia from space. It's a bright orange glow. I can see how the tiniest spark on a day like today here, when winds are SO strong, could create a firestorm. We, too, could kiss goodbye our home, our neighbors, our neighborhood, the nearby park, the coyotes, deer, birds, newts, frogs, bugs... EVERY CRITTER.
Climate change in Oakland means we're living day to day in a tinder box while the matches get closer and the winds more violent.
I'm visualizing soggy green hills. I'm dreaming of placid, gentle breezes. I'm praying for climate stability and a mandatory Twelve Step Program for arsonists.
March 15, I'll be one of five readers for a Sunday service dedicated to the environment. We've got to redouble our efforts to turn things around. Historically, in Rome, the ides of March was celebrated as the beginning of a new year, and a day for settling debts. I think it fitting we pay tribute to Mother Gaia, our beautiful Earth on this day. We owe her much debt. The Ides of March wasn't such a good day for Julius Caesar in the year 44 A.D. Perhaps we can look forward to something smashing happening to our 45th "leader" of the free world. Some large celebration, perhaps, of his head falling off, or at least his hair.
I'm also fantasizing about who next will fill the Oval Office. Praying for any competent adult.
Fantasies abound about a clean sweep to get the lout out; Mousse-o-leenie mangled; the oval orifice occupied with offal; the trumpeter trampled; ANY COMPETENT ADULT IN THE WHITEHOUSE!!! NOT DJT!!!
Meanwhile, the fierce winds blow round the globe igniting fires with the smallest spark. We're lucky there's still a bit of water in these hills. In a month or so, we'd best be very mindful.
What would my beloved and I do? Where would we go if we survived a conflagration that took the entire house, neighborhood, park, all the critters, neighbors, birds, bugs and bobolinks?
Those startling photos of Australia from space are harbingers of good change, I'd like to think. Surely, the devastation there must be a game changer for us. I am heartened to hear there are pagan people down on the ground who are doing good things for the animals. Making them little garments for their healing wounds; sewing slippers and mittens for burned koalas and kangaroos.
We're all in this together. Your side of the life boat has a hole? I'm gonna sink too. Let us work together, shall we? What can I do right here right now? Stop eating meat. Almost. Drive less. Check. Refuse plastic bags, bottles, and one-time-use containers? Not there yet. Closer, but not complete.
Our granddaughter will inherit this earth from her parents. As her grandmother, I can say I have been fighting since the first Earth Day to make the world a better place for her, but it seems such a pitiful little difference that I've made on her behalf. I remember singing the songs. I remember signing petitions for ZPG (Zero Population Growth), but I already had two wonderful daughters, one of whom will not have children of her own, though we have a grand cat which she and her husband love very much. Cats don't leave a very large carbon footprint. They do eat birds if allowed outside. Bradbuy is not outside off leash. He's relatively neutral with his minimal carbon manufacturing.
As a grandmother, I'm saddened by the woefully inadequate measures my country's government is implementing in order to mitigate the effects of our huge appetite for coal, oil, gas, and meat. I'm worried in the short run about the whole city around me burning up. I'm worried in the long run for all the refugees fleeing war-torn lands and drowned out coastal habitats. Big changes a comin'!
[Deleted: A foul-mouthed rant against the tyrant.]
We may not ever again see both sides of the congress getting along amicably. There is so much work to do but polarization has arrested any progress. No one can work under the conditions now established. Democrats and Republicans just fight about everything... including how to fight. I'm working to tone down my rhetoric. I'm working hard to tame and harness my rage at the status quo for people of color, LBGTQ folk, women, children, and the natural world. I'm working on as many fronts as I can. I'm longing for equality to descend. It does not seem to be doing so, at least not from the skies over my town. Women are treated abysmally. Females of all ilk are still being bullied.
Joaquin Phoenix used his acceptance speech for Best Actor Oscar to wax environmental and to complain about how we all degrade the earth by our thoughtless use of too many resources.
Would that our president heard it. Would that he could be the least bit kind, aware, gentle, thoughtful, or interested in anything other than himself. Then we might not be in as big a pile of doody as we are. He could LEAD us to repair what we've damaged and stop further damage to the world by legislating change of our evil ways.
Love is in the air? Where?
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