It’s raining where I am this morning, as I sit typing this and looking out into my backyard. The picture above is from the Adirondacks; I live about 2-3 hours away by car. I borrowed it from the image library at Kos because it comes closest to capturing the mood. There may be a foot or more of snow on the High Peaks this weekend. UPDATE: Here’s a Facebook post from the Adirondack Scenic Railroad at Thendara, NY, just outside Old Forge. That’s today October 22, 2016.
The pines are green as ever, but the hardwoods are all changing color and soon will be dropping their leaves. Even as the days get shorter, what light there is will soon have less clutter to get through at the end of its 8 minute journey from the sun.
We’ve put suet out in feeders in the back yard; the birds have been steadily whittling the cakes down. If you’re a bird, eat or die. Already the available foods of summer are disappearing with the frost that knocks down the insect life that so many nestlings grew fat on earlier in the year. Berries, seeds, and what bugs hiding away from the cold that can be dug out are what’s on the menu now.
There’s two chickens out there in a coop that came from rent the chicken earlier this year. I should check for eggs — we get two a day — but as I said, it’s raining. They’ve been interesting to have around. They are let out during the day, weather permitting, and they’ve become comfortable enough to range around the property. They’re going to go back to the local franchise soon for the winter. Doing it again next year is a possibility.
It’s been a dry summer just past. People have had wells go dry. The swamp around the corner on my road is as low as I’ve ever seen it. The rain now is welcome — save where it’s coming down so hard people are getting flooded out. It would have been appreciated more this summer past when crops were drying in the fields.
As I sit here, I can hear the refrigerator going on and off, keeping my food cold. Every so often the furnace in the basement rumbles quietly, keeping the house warm. The light overhead makes up for the grey day outside. My 19 year-old cat is curled up sleeping nearby.
A few days ago the power company had crews coming through the area trimming back trees that might otherwise fall on power lines — at the worst possible time of course, during a storm. They took out a lot of ash trees on my property — the Emerald Ash Borer has become a fact of life around here, and trees that will likely die are not going to be a power problem at least. I now have a lot of firewood waiting to be cut to length and stacked up.
At this moment, I’m very aware how much my comfort depends on the technology around me and the infrastructure that supports it. Those modern conveniences could become a threat, given what just happened yesterday.
Around the world people are struggling to obtain the basics of life, some in the midst of natural disasters, some in war zones, some in both simultaneously. I’m blessed to live in a country with a certain amount of political and economic security, although that’s being threatened by the near-total dysfunction one of our two political parties now embodies. I’ve got two family members in the military; one on the way to Afghanistan. I don’t have the luxury of pretending what happens elsewhere in the world isn’t my problem, or that who’s in charge here doesn’t matter.
It’s been a little disheartening to see how little attention climate change has gotten in the presidential campaign, though at least one candidate isn’t afraid to say the words and talk about it even if the media doesn’t dare. Today is a day I can appreciate how quickly the weather could affect my life, perhaps fatally, if not for the circumstances I currently enjoy.
I’m aware of the long term consequences of changing climate and the need to do something. Humans aren’t very good at dealing with things beyond the needs of the moment, especially those caught in situations where they’re facing immediate threats to life and limb on a daily basis. Those of us with the leisure and the means to look farther ahead have the obligation to do so — if only for our long term survival. There are a lot of things that need attention, many ways to act.
Tomorrow Solar City is coming to install solar panels on my roof. I live in a state where the financial incentives make it a good deal on top of what Solar City offers, and I have a roof large enough with enough daily sun to make it practical. I’m not going to save the world by myself, but this is one small piece of the answer.
Here’s hoping this day finds you well, safe, and secure.
UPDATE: I went out in the rain to check the chickens. Two eggs. I noticed this finally bloomed, about two months later than makes sense.