There is hope for us yet

Tags

active, climate, climate change, our part, passive, postaday2013

I spend each and every morning reading my political journals and environmental newsletters to make sure that I am in the loop. There are days that make me very anxious for our children’s future and then there are days, such as today, that I think that there is hope for us yet. My hubby came home today, he surprised me with Chinese food, he got me Moo Shoo pork, my favorite, and after we had dinner, my hubby put on David Letterman. Former Vice-President Al Gore was his guest and to hear Al Gore knowledgeably challenge all the common misconceptions that David Letterman was lobbing at him was a gift. It’s so nice to be properly entertained, given hopeful information and realize that not all is lost when the excellent David letterman applies his power for good.

Al Gore and David Letterman spent their whole interview period speaking to the evils of fracking, oil and gas exploitation and the benefits of solar, wind, the new generation of batteries, geothermal energy and other alternative sources. It was a breath of fresh air to hear studied discussion between two civic minded gentlemen. It made me so happy and hopeful to think that the size of David Letterman’s audience could have an impact in changing perceptions and attitudes. Each person’s actions can make a difference. We could if we all applied ourselves do something meaningful for our global environment.

Oh Sandy, sigh.

Tags

climate, flooding, hurricane, postaday2012, power loss

We in Blandford emerged safe and sound from the hurricane named Sandy or as the news media nicknamed her Frankenstorm. Over the weekend we were all alerted to Sandy’s massive size and all Northeastern Governors took steps to prepare and safeguard their respective residents. Our Governor closed all schools Monday just in case and he did the right thing, the gale force winds were frightening. I am happy to say that both my mother and sister didn’t suffer any power outages or damage to either of their homes. I was quite worried for both of them, they live right near the center of where Sandy was at her most powerful.

I was surprised that we lost power for a 24 hour period during the storm despite being fairly far from the epicenter. We didn’t get rain but boy did we get wind. I was walking baby Jack up in the park yesterday morning and while he was sniffing, a tree crashed down not too far from where we were standing. It happened so quickly, we both jumped. That was before the gale force winds, even with the Indus I was surprised at our power outage, we had a major upgrade to our electrical grid following the devastating ice storm of 2008 and our trees were meticulously trimmed all summer long, with all that overhaul and preparation we still lost power.

The only thing that bothered me with the power outage was my refrigerator and freezer contents. I didn’t want things to spoil so it did put a damper on eating last night, this morning and this afternoon. The first thing you learn in a power outage is do not open the fridge or freezer. That rule stinks when you are hungry.

Last night as I lay in bed at 10 I was thinking of one of my favorite t.v shows, Copper on the BBC America. It takes place in New York City in the 1870’s right after the Civil War. You get to see characters from the wealthy class and the underside of New York and the working class. The poor and working class women didn’t have time for leisure or to be bored. I am not sure if wealthy women were ever bored but they did do embroidery and needlepoint in the evening hours. So I decided that I wasn’t going to complain about being bored. I do admit that I felt in the dark without any news, other than that I did a lot of reading. So it wasn’t so bad. I am glad that it is over.

Heat wave in Normandy

Tags

climate, Normandy, postaday2012, rain, sun, weather

Francoise still can’t believe that just the day before the baby girl and I came to town, it had been raining for three months straight. We have had clear blue skies and 82 degrees for the past four days and tomorrow promises to be a scorcher as well. Normandy I’d say is beautiful in the rain and fog, what with its vast forests but add a whole lot of sun in the mix and it transcends beautiful, it jumps to glorious.

However, this heat makes one tired and lethargic, especially when a strong summer sun is beating down on you while you are visiting various sights. So today, we took a day of rest and stayed in the cool interior of Francoise’s beautiful house. While the baby girl was lounging about, Francoise and I were in her office, caught up in a project of hers.

When I was at Pierre and Isabelle’s house, Isabelle introduced me to the latest variation on the good old photo album, it’s called the “livre de photos” or photo book. I  don’t know of any website in the States that offers photo books but I’m sure that they must. This was the first time that I had seen one. Pierre and Isabelle go to Venice with their children annually, so with all the digital pictures of several years of trips left on the computer, Isabelle wanted to showcase the pictures and the memories so she went on the photo website and produced her own photo books. She has been doing it for a while and has gorgeous books illustrating their travels.

Given that introduction to photo books by Isabelle, it was a nice surprise to spend the afternoon helping Francoise do the actual layout for a photo book that she is putting together as an important family gift due in a few short weeks. Working on the website with Francoise and getting the feel for what was possible, what was hard to do and what was visually appealing was a lot of fun and a huge learning experience in the French terminology of computer language. I learned so much in this one afternoon, I am looking forward to getting back to it tomorrow.