Connecting The Dots

Someone has to. Guess it might as well be me.

Nashville, January 2010:



Nashville, May 2010:



It’s not just Nashville. One month ago, floods decimated New England. I don’t remember hearing about those floods in the news, either. But YouTube is full of shocking videos, like this one from Mystic, Connecticut and this one of a Rhode Island shopping mall under two feet of water. A friend who lives out there writes:

One of the worst things we had for weeks was the stench and everyone getting sick from bacteria in the air. Take care of yourself.

Something to look forward to, Nashville.

Drought and floods in India and China have resulted in a global cotton shortage, folks. That means no more cheap $10 T-shirts at WalMart and CostCo, not to mention a shortage of canvas tarps, cotton for industrial use and medical supplies.

It has contributed to the tensions between India and Pakistan. India has halted export of its cotton, forcing two-thirds of Pakistan’s yarn mills to close.

Farmers in Hawaii are cutting back production as much as 40% because of severe drought.

And as I mentioned last winter, there was massive drought in the Southern Hemisphere, causing severe crop loss.

We are 7 billion strong on this planet. Our thirst for oil has led us to interfere in the governments of foreign lands, even wage wars to access oil. Little surprise some people resort to desperate acts of terrorism.

We drill for oil in more extreme, dangerous places. Just one accident has destroyed a major food industry in this country. I doubt there will be much recovery of the shrimp and oyster beds in the Gulf. It’s not just the oil; the chemical dispersants they are using to contain the spill have unknown risks:

Chemical dispersants carry complex environmental trade-offs: helping to keep oil from reaching sensitive wetlands while exposing other sea life to toxic substances. The concoction works like dish soap to separate oil and water, but the exact chemical composition is protected as a trade secret.

Sure. Because where the public health and the continued existence of a major food source are concerned, what’s really important is protecting Dow Chemical’s (or whomever’s) copyright.

Someone in Washington needs to connect these dots. There is a clear and concrete line connecting our fossil fuel addiction, our resource wars, the pollution we are pumping into the atmosphere, our growing population, and the extremes of weather we’ve experienced. And by “we” I do mean that globally. We all cause the problem and we all suffer the consequenes.

We’re all in this together. We all share the same planet.

The cost of our inaction will be more floods, more drought, more political instability and more terrorism. We can get off this hamster wheel now, or we can keep running and running, expecting to get somewhere but not moving one inch. It's all very plain and obvious to me. I can't believe it isn't obvious to anyone else.

It's all connected, people.

Happy Snow Day

You might have heard that we’ve had a bit of a cold snap in Nashville this week. We got a little dusting of snow, too -- not enough to do anything fun with (in the interest of editorial honesty this snowman picture was taken in New York a week before Christmas). But because it’s so cold, what little snow we did receive is going to be with us for a few days.

I guess I need to move to Canada or something because I absolutely love this cold weather. It’s not something we see too often anymore; check out my garden in December 2007, when it was 78 degrees. Last February it was over 70 degrees and spring flowers were blooming. I’ve had irises bloom in January for more years than I can count and last winter my roses never went dormant.

We haven’t had a real winter here in years and I’ve missed it. I love the bracing cold air on my morning walks, I like how your breath makes clouds in the air. I like getting bundled up to go out and I like how a pot of chili on the stove smells so much better when there’s a tinge of woodsmoke in the air. I like how the prolonged cold helps keep the bugs at bay the following summer. I don’t even mind the mess and the hassle of all those bulky winter clothes and snow-covered boots.

Even though I was born in Southern California and spent my middle and high school years there, my childhood was in New Jersey. As a kid we dragged our sleds to the neighborhood hill and came home to mugs of hot chocolate. We had snow days and snowmen and snow clothes and snow angels.

After we moved west I remember my dad sitting outside on a balmy February day, catching rays with his shirt off and calling everyone he knew “back east” to gloat about the beautiful California weather. I always thought that was a little sadistic, and it became such a regular thing that I’m sure it annoyed the hell out of people.

On top of which: not everyone wants sunshine and suntans in the winter! I like my seasons. Give me snow. And if I can't have snow, give me the cold.

Deep Freeze

Dear Sen. Mitch McConnell:

I know your most pressing concern right now is bringing African American and Hispanic voters into the GOP fold. But in case it has escaped your notice, the state of Kentucky is experiencing an emergency prompted by this week’s winter storm.

A winter storm isn't all that unusual in January in this part of the world; unfortunately for the people of Kentucky, especially those in the western part of the state, the area’s infrastructure hasn’t been up to the task:

A majority of residents in the counties farthest west have been without electricity for at least 48 hours, and some are facing as much as two more weeks without it. Phone and power lines are strewn about in McCracken County with many utility poles lying in pieces.

Customers with AT&T cell phone service — who happen to be the majority in the region — haven't been able to get signals consistently since early Tuesday.

Maj. Gen. Edward W. Tonini, the state's adjutant general, said AT&T reported as many as 220 of its cell sites and a slew of its circuits were down mostly because of power outages.

The electric companies in Western Kentucky are particularly overwhelmed.

Virtually everyone in Calloway County remained out of power Thursday, said Judge-Executive Larry Elkins.

"The problem is a major feed line into the county — a major transmission line — is broken," he said. "Once we get that main transmission line repaired, then we can find out where the smaller problems are. And that's still a huge number."

I’m sure it’s a great comfort to the Congress Critters of Kentucky that their constituents will never know they just voted against funding for infrastructure improvements, and are now spending their time hand-wringing over how to bring the Republican Party back from the brink of obsolescence.

Meanwhile, Mr. Beale and I are trying to figure out how to get ahold of our friends and relatives in Trigg and Caldwell counties. A friend who had to make the trip into Nashville yesterday “for supplies” told us the area “looks like a war zone.” People can’t get gasoline because the pumps are electricity-powered, cell phone and traditional phone service are both down, roads are still iced over, and it’s a giant mess.

But don’t worry, folks. Your Congress Critters seem to think that tax cuts will solve all of those problems. After all, they’ve worked so well in the past.

Weekend Garden Blogging

What a difference a week makes. I take back everything I said on May 12. This week has been gorgeous, lows in the 40s, highs in the 70s, low humidity. In another words, it’s like California is 80 percent of the time.

On top of that, the daylillies are in bloom.