Saint Louis, Missouri, flooded enough to stop transportation, The North Of England - flooded. (Prince Charles with his long time concern for the environment is truly the perfect person to be the next King!) Tornados touching down in unprecedented numbers. Earth changes, no doubt. Global Warming Summit in Paris. Is this really something we can stop now by altering our life styles so that we no longer pollute? (I think it would take more than recycling, and shutting down factories particularly in China, but also less use of air travel...) Al Gore was right. Al Gore was right.
In the wee hours I woke up and turned on the radio, a station which featured psychic predictions for the future. In the morning I wake up again, check my weather ap and see that the experts are predicting a swath of storms "NON EL NINO RELATED" that will hit my area this week. I took down the Christmas lights that I had planned to keep on until January 6th, in advance of these storms thinking the wet weather and electricity could be dangerous.
My dog is wearing sweaters and I've taken to using a space heater in one room - the bedroom, which I'm using 90% of the time now. The gas wall heater is too expensive to use and so old it has no thermostat and though it can eat up the humidity when it's on, most of the heat goes out the windows. The electric bill will rise, as will the gas bill, but not enough to consider the expense of double pane windows, water heater wraps, and all the rest.
Not too long ago, during one of the hottest summers I've ever experienced, so sick of the heat, I vowed that I would not complain of the cold or the wet. I'm actually lucky because I'm not dealing at all with freezing rain, sleet, ice or snow and even when it goes to freezing at night I can cover up my plants outside.
I'm limited in what I can do but I do it. I have cut back my water use especially. I recycle not only bottles and cans but give away clothes and other things that someone else can get use out of. I generate so little garbage that my can doesn't have to go out to the street more than once a month. I think "if everyone would do just a little more towards this effort." But, despite their being constant warnings - and rules - and laws - about water usage in my area, I still have a neighbor who waters excessively. Everyone on the street is angry at him but so far he has not been busted by the authorities and has not gotten any fines.
Now, anticipating the rain, I'm more worried than ever that it will be excessive and that there will be flooding in my area, which was not designed to cope with too much rain at any one time. There is a construction site down the street that is dug out and I hope any flooding will go down into the pit instead of down the street and into the yards!
