Tag Archives: climate change

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The house feels amazingly cool at 23℃ this morning. It is already 20℃ at 8:30 in the morning. There’s a red ring around the sun. The sky is hazy. No smell of smoke in the air. A good sign. I feel the strangeness of everything in the now. I feel as if I’m in one of Barbara Atwood’s science fiction novels. I haven’t read many of her books. The ones I started, I couldn’t finish. I found them too strange and unsettling. That is how I am feeling these days. I am a chicken shit.

I’m trying to get a start on my day and not wallow in my feelings and moods. I wish I could be more organized and have a plan on how to tackle each day of the Ultimate Blog Challenge like many of my fellow bloggers. Alas, it’s a bit late in the game. We’re into day 24. Perhaps I am not doing too bad as I’ve only missed a day. Still having a plan is better than flying by the seat of my pants. It’s a bit of a struggle living on the fly. Things have caught up and I am in a hell of a clutter.

Before it was mostly paper. The paper still exist. I can’t seem to deal with opening the mail. I toss them on the table meaning to later…Of course the later never comes. Now, I have alot of my mother’s clothes. I have sorted some and donated them. Then there’s the

Whining and Sighing

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Photo by Puwadon Sang-ngern on Pexels.com

An already hot morning at 10:30 on this day 23 of the Ultimate Blog Challenge. I am on the brink of giving in to the everythings of this world. I haven’t quite fallen in. The sun is unbearably hot with less ozone protection. Researching, I find that Canada’s and the northern regionss ozone have thinned by an average of about 7% since the 1980s. Supposedly the ozone layer is healing. Truth or fake news? Our planet seemed to be heating up every year.

I’ve discovered that cucumber male flowers can become sterile due to heat. My plants in the greenhouse are full of male flowers, more than the female ones. I have pollinated the girls and yet besides the one cucmber we already ate, none came to fruit. So I’m guessing that the males must be shooting blanks. They can recover with cooler weather. If heat can do this to cucumbers, what does it do to us and all living things? Is this not a signal for us to change how we are conducting business on this earth? We can’t eat the greenbacks. Why don’t use them resuscitate this one earth we have?

I probably should stop reading the news. It makes me more melancholic than my natural melancholic self. There’s no fun or use in it. It’s not something I want to bring to the keyboard. I have to pull myself up by the bootstrap, snap out of my old mold, crack the whip and do whatever I have to do. I have to admit that I am a little buried under a little pile of mental overwhelm. Life seems to have no rest stops when you have a 95 year old father. Not complaining. It is what it is. It is not at all the physical thing. He is very low maintenance. It’s the emotional and psychological components that weighs on me.

Enough whining and sighing. Time to get on with the rest of the day. Not sure if my father is being discharged from the hospital today or tomorrow. Will find out soon enough. My brother is there now and he will let me know. Good to have younger siblings. They have more energy and reserve.

Thankful and Hopeful

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It’s a hot July 22 for the 22nd day of the Ultimate Challenge. It’s 28℃ but feels hotter. At least the skies are clear and so is the air. We are fortunate there’s no smoke from forest fires. It’s frightening reading about the wildfires in Ontario. Then there’s the fires in British Columbia. We’re in the middle, hot but no fires and smoke. I will keep my fingers and toes crossed.

My father is doing well in the hospital. The doctor say he might be discharged tomorrow. Much is wrong with our healthcare system but there are good things happening. This admission has transitioned quicker and smoother than his previous ones. It certainly has been much better than the experiences with my mother. Treatments much quicker, different services consulted and followups planned. This is all done for us.

I am thankful for this passage. It gives me hope that people are still working to make the system better. We have to do our part, too and not depend on the government to make the first move. We only have to look toward our southern neighbour. See what their government has done. It’s enough to make me cry. Instead of tears, the song Don’t Cry for Me Argentina popped into my head.

Pretty in White

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April 25th, 5 more days left in April and 5 more days in the Ultimate Blog Challenge. It is still snowing. My world is pretty in white. The pink garage door is a beautiful accent. I am tired, having stood the while, prepping and putting all the ingredients for chicken soup in the Instant Pot. I feel the snow in my bones. While it is not devastinating pain, it is the ache that can make you scream. So, a tylenol, a cup of tea and a few words of complaint for ease.

The sun is struggling through the grey. Some is better than none. The greenhouse feels amazingly warm at just a little above 10℃. I had to shovel or wade through the deep snow to get to its door. I shoveled. The snow was wet and heavy. It was good exercise. I filled a bucket and added it to the half pail of water inside. Then I filled the bucket again. It will melt down for more watering the beds and seedlings. I hope this will be the last snowfall till next winter. The forecast says flurries are expected to start in 38 minutes. But just now the sun burst through the grey as if to say, No!

Needless to say, the weather and life are a bit strange these days. I feel as if I am living in Margaret Atwood’s science fiction. It would be nice that I’m just having a bad dream. It would be wonderful if when I wake up, there’s no snow and no climate change, no Donald Trump, Pete whatshisname, Kash Patel and all their gang. I wonder if that’s too much to ask for.

August Heat

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Another hot 30℃ August day, the kind of heat we wanted in July but never got. Makes me wonder what kind of winter we will have. So many unusual and unpredictable weather patterns. How will we navigate the future? Will our planet survive what we have been doing to it? And can/will we change our ways? We seem to be hell bent on going down the same path – fast everything, more money and more stuff.

I am not hopeful but at the same time, I am not hopeless either. I am still interested and engaged in this little life of mine. I am doing my best in not adding to the stress of the planet. Perhaps it means little to the grand scheme of things to say I recycle. But I do. I recycle and compost. I save rain water. I even save water I wash my vegetables with. Perhaps I do go a little overboard sometimes and exhaust myself. But I’m happy to have that extra water to throw on the strawberry plants. They pay back with beautiful delicious red fruits.

I feel very fortunate that I am able to do the work of growing my own food and to share some with family and friends. I am grateful that I find joy and fulfillment in working the soil. It keeps me sane and grounded when life is hard. And it is always hard.

Ranting

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The smoke certainly has thrown a monkey wrench into my plans for this week. I had decided to take this time off from the gym and work out in the yard and the gardens. There’s more than plenty to do. The front yard is a disaster with those creeping bellflowers taking over again. I put in alot of sweat and tears last summer digging and digging – to no avail. They’re still coming and coming. I’m not going to put myself out there, fighting them or anything else, in the smoke.

It is very frustrating to wake up again in this smoky haze. It is the middle of July and it is cool and grey. I am somewhat angry that we’re in all this. There’s still many who are denying and not talking about the climate change even those in power. We need to recognize this and talk about what needs to be done. It is, of course, easier to pretend nothing is wrong even though we are on fire. Grrrrr!

I could not handle being hampered and hemmed in and full of wrath. Not regarding what I said about the smoke, I went to the community garden with my masks. I harvested a bag of snowpeas, weeded a bit and watered our plots. After an early lunch, I drove out to the allotment garden with my masks and gloves. The gloves are for squishing potato beetles. And there were some. The potato leaves were not a pretty sight.

By now the air quality index is better but you can still smell the smoke and the sky is still grey. But the rant is out of me for this 15th day of the Ultimate Blog Challenge. Tomorrow I shall tackle those creeping bellflowers.

potatoes
corn
beets
beans
peas

UBC DAY 3 – Change

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Just like that, overnight, the blistering heat of 30℃ dropped. It’s a cool cloudy windy 18℃ at 10:30 in the morning. There’s smoke in the air. These are not inviting conditions for me to wander out for my walk in the garden. I’m not overly keen on weeding either. However, I have made a short trek to the greenhouse to see if there are cucumber and bittermelon blossoms to pollinate. I’ve found and pollinate one of each.

This is what our summer is like this year, constant change. It’s the 3rd of July but it feels like fall today. A few days ago it was hot, hot with thunderstorms and thankfully rain. So despite this weird extreme pattern, the garden is doing well. Surprisingly, weather sensitive me, is too. After half a life time of complaining about the weather, I realized that it doesn’t help one little bit. I can’t change the weather, but I can learn to change how it affects me.

So today is not a great day for me to be outdoors. But I can finally open the blinds in the sunroom. They’ve been closed 24/7 because of the sun and heat. It’s a relief to have natural light and to be able to look out the windows. I’m not weeding in the garden but at last I’m ‘weeding’ a wee bit inside, doing some necessary dusting and picking up a few scattered odds and ends. It’s not as much fun but if I do it often enough, it will become a habit. The results – a clean, neat house where most things can be found can lead to a new found joy.

TRIGGERS AND BULLETS

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Another April morning. I’ve come to the keyboard but I am lost for words. The morning feels grey and wintry though the sun is breaking through. I can’t quite believe that the high today will be 18℃. It is 8:44 am. It’s 6℃ outside and 10.3℃ in the greenhouse. The 10.3 sounds high though it is still quite chilly inside. I’ve made a visit there and out to take the covers off the covered raised beds. The lettuce, celery and daikon are all looking fine. They do like the cold so maybe I can stop fussing and covering under the cover. But I see that it is going down to -6℃ Monday night. How can I stop worrying? It is easy to just throw on another cover.

We are living in unpredictable times. Maybe we always have but never knew it. What a waker upper, eh? Now there is no escape. There are plenty of deniers even though the third wave of Covid is hitting hard for many countries in the world and global climate change threatens our survival. I’m not being pessimistic but facing the facts. I like to deny, too, but denying and hiding from things leads to stress and anxiety. I’ve learned the hard way, from experience.

Not running away and facing the enemy is scary, very scary. I suffer from anxiety attacks. I have ran away and hid. That only led to prolonged anxiety, the waiting for the other shoe to drop and my heart in my mouth. It’s been a long journey and I’ve gotten acquainted with my fears and triggers. I am much better now. I’ve learned to stand my ground and face my enemy. Sometimes I have to bite the bullet, feeling the rush of adrenalin through my body. I always come out the other side, safe and whole. This gives me confidence. Each time I gain a little more.

I think I’ve become a better person for all my anxieties. For one thing, I am more empathetic to other sufferers. An ear to listen is a valuable thing. It took me a long time to realize that I don’t have to fix everyone’s problems. I just have to sit and listen without judgement or offerings. Another thing is I’ve gotten to know myself very well. I’m well acquainted with my emotions and my physiological response to different stimuli. I’m learning how to deescalate my emotions so that they don’t cause me harm. I feel things very deeply. I am what you call a HSP, a highly sensitive person(self diagnosis).

It is now 10℃ out. The sun is a little brighter, but the sky looks cold dirty dishwater. It is what it is. I will carry on as best as I can. Meanwhile the bulbs I planted the autumn before last are blooming – more and bigger than last spring.

HOPE IS SOMETHING TO DO

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It’s February 22 and the 22nd day of the Ultimate Blog Challenge. I’m getting close to the finish line. 6 more days after today. I woke to +4℃ this morning. You wouldn’t think it would be a cause for cursing but it was for me. To me it’s a sign of climate change, unstability and uncertainty. Weve been experiencing both ends of weather extremes within a couple of weeks. I’ve been mostly singing positive tunes no matter what. Perhaps I should continue but wouldn’t it be just like copy and paste? What good would putting on a brave face do, except that?

Maybe it is time for me to change my ways along with the weather. I can’t just keep going on with the same old, same old. Look at what happened in Texas. I have reason to feel despondent in this time but not reason to act so. Now is the time for me to find ways to conserve my energy for things that do serve me rather than take away from me. Perhaps that is what Joanna Macy’s Active Hope is. “Hope is not something to have. Hope is something to do.” I don’t want to mire myself in my muck. I don’t want to stay stuck in my rut. I want to get out of it.

I long have discovered that movement was my getting-out-of-stuck tool, even before Kelly McGonigal wrote The Joy of Movement. Sitting with all my stuck thoughts and feelings was not a solution. They were like the gerbil on its wheel, going round and round. Whereas if I just stood up, I’ve changed my posture. I’ve disturbed something. And if I step outside, I find my spirit lifting even on a cloudy day. I found the joy of a blue sky on my walks with Sheba. Before, I seldom look up to see the sky. I discovered the sensation of flow through swimming. I have lost Sheba but I’m still moving in the great outdoor on cross country skis. I will swim again once the Covid virus has eased. There is always hope to be done.

My Long Keep Tomato seedlings are growing. They have a few new leaves. And the Black Krims are poking their heads above the soil but not so the Jade Dragon Bitter Melon seeds. Perhaps soon. I will seed some cucumbers today for the greenhouse. The climbing vines willl help to shade and keep it cooler on hot summer days. We’ve already had some high temperatures of above 30℃ on sunny afternoons. Last night was the first that it did not go below freezing. Hope in action.

POLITICAL & CLIMATE CHANGE

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Political & Climate Change

It’s difficult to be cheerful and optimistic when you watch the American election. Neither candidate, Trump or Biden are young men at 74 and 77 respectively. Neither looked in the best of health. I haven’t been following their campaign but I have heard the President talk on TV many times before. And I just want to turn him off. I’ve just listened to former NYC mayor Rudi Giuliani speak on NowThis News about the corruption of the Democrats on mail in vote fraud. It is very distressing, watching all this. I shall stop right now.

It is a f’ing frightening time in the world now. I hear no talk of climate change on the political stage. Theres no talk of plans of how to slow and reverse climate change. The politicians are only interested in attacking each other. As for our news, it’s all Covid and then the elections. We’ve been bombarded with our own provincial, civic and now the U.S elections. What about the other stuff happening in the rest of the world? What about our planet? Does anything else matter any more if there is no earth?

Oh, let me pull back to my corner of concern – growing food. It is something I/we all can do. It is my passion along with sustainability. I shall adopt Patrick Dolan’s approach of one yard revolution at a time. I love all his videos. They are a wealth of information and enjoyable to watch. Today, I learned some new vegetables to grow – claytonia and Egyptian walking onions. Claytonia is also good for cool weather. I’ve just discovered West Coast Seeds online this year. They have a wide selection of Asian vegetables being on the west coast where there’s a large Asian population. They have the claytonia, jade dragon bitter melon and winter spinach. I’m eager to try them out.

The door to our greenhouse went up today. Needs some fixings but everything is all closed in. We have a couple of warm days left. Can’t believe that tomorrow’s high is 18 degrees Celsius. Then there’s snow on Saturday. No climate change, eh? Oh, whatever!