Weather and Climate Change

Global warming is certainly playing havoc with the weather! Drought, floods and heat are bringing misery to thousands. Wild fires, torrential rains, and extreme temperatures make news every day. I’ve experienced temperatures of 117 degrees which lasted several days when l lived in Palo Alto, California a few years ago, but the 128 reading in Las Vegas only days ago is a staggering record. Death Valley often records phenomenal temperatures in the 130 plus range, but as wags like to remark, “it’s a dry heat”….add a little moisture and you get a Texas summer.

In my phone and computer chats, weather conditions dominate the conversations. We compare temperatures, the cost of running the AC, and whether or not the streets are flooded where we live. Occasionally I phone Mesa Tessa to get a currant weather report from her ‘spread’ in Arizona.

In thinking of ways to conserve energy, I’m reminded that before air conditioning there were shade trees, hand held paper fans and porches with swings where one might catch a breeze however slight.

Porches are almost a thing of the past; worry about mosquitoes carrying West Nile virus causes one to forego the pleasure of rocking in a porch swing as the summer moon rises. Porches can certainly play a part in saving energy though. There is nothing like sitting in a porch swing, whiling away a hot afternoon and sipping cold lemonade. Two of the houses the family lived in had screened sleeping porches. The Victorian house in Iowa had one on the second floor. The Sky Ranch in California had a wrap around screened porch, one section given over to a row of beds, dormitory style, where anyone choosing to sleep outdoors could do so. The fragrance of the redwoods and the night time sounds of rustling leaves was the only sleeping potion needed for a good nights sleep.

Fans are electric these days. Hand held fans are no longer given away free as advertising gifts. Small individual battery fans replace the pleated Spanish fans that fold with a snap of the wrist.

Several years ago, my sister, Adeline, and I wanted to get some Spanish fans. She and I combed the malls near and far without luck. On our drive north to Mt. View, California to visit family we took a driving break and browsed a Pier One shop. In a dark corner at the back of the store we found a bin full of Spanish fans, all colors. Many were broken and of no use but the two of us bought the remaining ones. I got 7 or 8 and Adeline got the same. I gave half of mine away but those I kept have been repaired several times by trimming the white priority mailing envelopes from the Post Office to fit the fan shape and gluing it to the colored paper. Every time I use one I think of Adeline and our adventure in finding them.

Before moving to Houston, picnicking on hot summer days at the Louisiana tourist bureau and rest stop across the Texas line was always a welcome relief from stifling heat. Elevated wooden walkways circle thru the Cypress trees allowing one to look down into the backwaters of the Gulf and see rare plants and flowers native to the area.

Here in Houston there is a mesmerizing water sculpture. It’s a semi circular wall, 65 feet tall with 11,000 gallons of water per minute cascading down the sides; a most impressive sight! I enjoy going there after a scorching hot day. Lights illuminate the water from underneath and, if there is a breeze, a mist from the water fall rides the draft and creates a net over hair and clothes as you walk from one end of the wall to the other. A park of oak trees lies between the wall and the Williams Tower, owner of the wall.

Television programs on climate conditions and global warming leave me bewildered. I become enmeshed in a cycle of sympathy about what’s happening over yonder, thankful it’s not in my back yard and feeling guilty that I’m lackadaisical about saving the planet.

I HAVE replaced incandescent light bulbs with fluorescent and the new energy saving spiral bulbs. I promise not to buy any more Styrofoam plates and bowls after I use the ones I have on hand.

Sometimes I wonder what life will be like for future generations. Will earth warming be so drastic that humans won’t survive? They say anything that can be imagined can be done. If that’s so, people may live with blessings and curses. There’s bound to be medical breakthroughs and scientific discoveries, inventions of labor saving devices to ease the drudgery of work, possibly more time for pursuit of happiness, and a greater understanding of the universe. But there may also be a greater disparity between those who have and those who haven’t and the idea of a peaceful life may be at a premium paid for only by war and violence.
It’s tempting to think wonderful things will come to pass like an unending supply of energy for all of humanities’ needs, and travel to and from other planets. I don’t seriously believe it will ever happen. If the predictions of drastic climate change actually occur, however many years in the future, humanity will face catastrophic conditions just to survive.