Category: Climate Change

I’ll have to ask for combat pay if this keeps up. I went out for a brief photo shoot, came back quickly, and was in urgent need of warmth and to thaw out. Kim, our oldest and shiest sheep, got caught and stuck in a frozen metal feeder, so we had to get her out, into a stall, and water and feed her.

I was outside for a while, probably two long, but I wouldn’t leave Maria all by herself like that, although there isn’t the slightest doubt that she could handle it, and she did.

I just felt I  had to be out there in case.

The water we gave Kim froze in 10 minutes in her stable, so we have to work on that.

Maria did a great job helping me thaw, wrapping me in a thick shawl, putting a blanket on me, and throwing a big log in the fireplace. I insisted on holding my camera for some reason.

We’re going to sleep downstairs tonight. The bedroom has a small heater, but it’s helpless in this kind of cold when the wind is blowing, and the window seems to be blowing pretty hard here tonight.

If there is any good news, it’s that in two days, the temperatures are supposed to rise to normal, which is just around freezing in daylight. I’m counting on my friend, the sun, to warm things up.

I’ve dealt with frostbite before, and I take it quite seriously. My camera froze on me.

I’m thinking of those many thousands of people in warmer climates who are experiencing this cold; it’s tricky enough if you’re familiar with it. I wish you warmth and comfort and electricity.

Our power is not out yet, and the wind is dying down. Kim is doing well, and the animals are huddled in the barn. I got some sweet pictures, and honestly, I feel I am nothing but fortunate. Stay warm and well. Only two flower photos today, my fingers still hurt.

We’re experiencing the same oppressive heat much of the rest of the country has been experiencing for weeks and months. Ours will ease up tonight. The morning sun caught the heat and made itself clear just after sunrise.

The donkeys love the heat; they stand out in the sun all morning and drift into the shade around the hottest time of day. They are always open to an ear scratch and an alfalfa cube.

Our animals went through three big water tanks, more than we have ever seen them drink. The sun is powerful, and I’m told to stay inside until tonight, when the “severe storms” are expected to arrive with high winds.

I’m learning that climate change is not just one thing but one continuing thing. It won’t stop until we stop it if that is even possible.

I don’t and won’t argue about politics, online or off, for several reasons.

This came to mind yesterday when a neighbor overheard me telling the postal clerk about our new $34 solar lamp, which is bright enough to light up the dining room table, read a book, or allow me to pay bills with its light.

It’s a surprisingly good lamp, and it alone will save a lot of electricity.

My neighbor, a nice man I see in town occasionally,  was waiting for me by car.  He seemed a bit agitated by my solar lamp.

I was right. He wanted to tell me why he wouldn’t buy a solar lamp; he didn’t believe climate change was real; it was just another liberal plot to get people to vote for Joe Biden and the Democrats. He quoted Donald Trump as saying serious climate change was 300 years away, and we didn’t have to worry about it now.

My neighbor is a good man and a good neighbor.

But I decided not to respond to his statement.

After an awkward silence, I said, “Listen, Ryan,  you’re a good and helpful neighbor, and I respect you. But I won’t argue with you about this or anything else political. I know you all think us newcomers (20 years) from downstate are all radical “woke” fanatics waiting to force cancer-causing vaccines on you. That’s your choice and your business, but I don’t care to buy into it. I don’t see climate change as a political issue but a survival and personal one.  I am also thinking of my daughter and granddaughter. I owe her trying.

It’s something Maria and I are already living every day. I hope you and I and our families can help save the planet and our way of life. If you don’t want to go along with that, it’s your business, just like my solar lamp is my business, and I don’t need or want your approval.”

I told Ryan my life and emotional well-being did not revolve around political leaders. My happiness and fulfillment do not depend on Joe Biden, Donald Trump, or Ron DeSantis. Politics is not where I get my hope or comfort. We have to do it ourselves.

I vote when the time comes, but I don’t need to offer my choices and views to strangers or fight about them. I never argue politics with anyone. I don’t get my ideas from websites and cable news; I like to think for myself.  I mind my own business and expect other people to mind theirs. See you around; I’ve got a name of a great and inexpensive hay farmer like you asked for. I’ll drop it off.

The conversation was over.

I left Ryan looking embarrassed and puzzled; this wasn’t what he expected. He didn’t seem sure of what to say.

In recent years, I’ve come to see that politics is not what brings about rapid change. I can only control myself, and my response to climate change, poverty, and people in need is the same: I do the best I can for as long as I can.

In our world, so many of us have slipped thinking for ourselves and following party or label line. Ryan assumes he knows everything I am thinking, but he doesn’t and isn’t even moved to try to find out. Arguing with him would be pointless, and I do not intend to spend even a few minutes of my life in argument.

This is why we started The Army Of Good.

Politics have moved far away from me, and I have moved far away from politics. I won’t join the fray.

I choose to live a moral and meaningful life. I don’t argue about doing good. I do good as I see it. I vote my conscience in private.

I won’t lie or hate people if they disagree with me. I am as disengaged from politics as ever, an odd thing for a former political writer who loved writing about politics for a living and couldn’t believe my good fortune.

I choose the spiritual life, not the political or religious one.

The solar lamp is an excellent example of my new politics. Maria and I are taking steps to continue supporting the planet, as we believe in climate change and see it out of our farmhouse windows every day. We don’t need anyone to tell us that is areas. Even the donkeys know it.

But it’s not my purpose to tell Ryan or anybody else what to think or do. Change and revelation come quickly to people who lose their homes and can’t breathe due to heat, smoke, and fire. The deniers will have a lot to answer for.

They will know climate change is real soon enough. Mother Nature can speak for herself. In my remaining years on this planet, I plan to do everything I can to repay for the riches she has given me.

There is a difference between arguing and believing. Ryan doesn’t have to think the way I do. I don’t owe him any explanations.

The solar lamp works beautifully, by the way. So do our solar hand lamps for emergencies. It feels good to have one, it makes me feel less helpless.

We put it out in the fun for a few hours and get hours of light indoors. Imagine what a gift to the world would be if more people used solar lamps than electricity.