Yesterday early, when I wrote, I had not yet heard or seen the news of Los Angeles. Sometimes I must seem pretty clueless, but I don't spend much time online, and/or watching news reports. It wasn't until last night's old fashioned dinner hour TV network news that I saw the hellish, flame-filled pictures.
It's hard to know what to say. Of course this is only the beginning. When humans for thousands of years fail to take Nature's needs into account, the moment had to come where "She" would put the longterm survival of the planet itself ahead of human goals. We never asked Her, "Should we build here?" "Should we build with these materials?" "Is it wise for us to make this choice or that choice?" "Will the planet be resilient if we take this path?" Etc. These climate events aren't about payback. They are not aimed at certain people or situations, although there will be moments (like today) when catastrophes could seem to reflect a certain irony. But really, we don't have time to assess blame. All we have time to do is to say, every morning, "Great Mother, do what you need to do today to keep Earth viable for some forms of life." And at least inwardly, accept that major changes are coming.
The Capital District has had at least a week of extremely strong winds...not Santa Ana winds of nearly 100 mph -- perhaps half that. Still, the relentlessness of it is odd for this part of the world in winter, and here (unlike the Tug Hill Plateau) we've had very little snow. Even with temperatures in the teens, the ground is unusually dry. So this area isn't "safe" from climate change right now. We are all connected. Whether we live or die, or maintain housing or lose it, everything is happening to everyone.
I have seen a hawk or an eagle an average of once every other day recently, and someone also gave me a dramatic picture of a British "red kite". Now, I am dreaming hawks. One flew over my right shoulder and went and picked up a small white dog, finally dropping it because the dog was too heavy. I woke up as I was trying to find the dog's owner. There must be tons of dream interpretation meaning in this, but until I figure it out, I guess I'll just try to stay in the wonder of it all.
