climate change

And in the End….

Fandango11 Comments

B85E036A-1580-4C89-9101-3D7A21B2E094The news reporter was visibly shaken as he told the viewers about how scientists were predicting the imminent explosion of a nearby star. “Such an explosion, known as a supernova, would pose a significant danger to all life on our planet,” he said.

“Dad,” Alan said, “if that star explodes, will it mean we won’t be able to go on holiday?”

“Don’t worry about it, kid,” Alan’s father said. “It’s fake news. Those goddam liberals soak up this kind of crap all the time. Next thing you know they’ll be talking about how climate change will cause all of us to starve to death and they’ll be hanging papier-mâché dolls of the president in effigy.”

Before the sound of the exploding star could be heard, all life on earth was vaporized.

Written for these one-word prompts: Your Daily Word Prompt (supernova), Fandango’s One-Word Challenge (danger), Ragtag Daily Prompt (holiday), Scotts Daily Ptompt (soak), Daily Addictions (starve), and Word of the Day Challenge (effigy).

So Many Questions

Fandango15 Comments

9A507F46-4A95-4A91-A61E-941F76D813A6Sadje over at Keep It Alive was just nominated (again) for the Sunshine Blogger Award. She dutifully answered the 11 questions asked of her and, per the instructions, posed 11 new questions. But rather than nominating 11 new bloggers for the award, she instead wrote, “My nominees are anyone who likes to answer my 11 questions. You all are invited to participate!”

So thanks for the “nomination” and invitation, Sadje. Here are your questions and my answers.

  1. What made you start your blog? I retired at the end of 2016. By May of 2016, my constant presence around my wife (i.e., always being underfoot) prompted her to say to me, “Why don’t you start blogging?”
  2. What do you enjoy most about blogging? I enjoy exercising my imagination when I write flash fiction and expressing my utter disgust for Donald Trump, his administration, cabinet, and the Republicans in Congress.
  3. What is your dream? That there will be an enormous “blue wave” in Tuesday’s elections, that Robert Mueller will find irrefutable evidence of high crimes and misdemeanors perpetrated by Donald Trump, which will result in his removal from office, that America will be able to recover from the damage that he’s done to our country and to the environment in my lifetime, and that, when I go to sleep each night, I’ll wake up the next morning.
  4. How do you find inspiration to write? You mean aside from my wife urging me to get out of her hair by blogging? I find inspiration from word and photo prompts, family and friends, and the news.
  5. Which is your favorite place on the planet? My home.
  6. Coffee or tea or…..? Coffee, for sure.
  7. If you had to cook dinner, what will you cook? Probably pasta.
  8. What do you think of climate change? It’s real and it worries me.
  9. Who is your role model? To be honest, I don’t really have a role model at this point in my life.
  10. Which is your favorite time of the year? Fall.
  11. Books, TV, or movies — how you spend your free time? Sadly, of the three, it’s TV. But I probably spend an equal amount of time writing and reading blog posts, which makes my wife very happy (see question 1.)

As Sadje did, I now invite anyone who wishes to answer these questions to feel free to do so.

Stop the Insanity

Fandango34 Comments

564531D6-8E94-417F-9601-CF3DFD749E17We have become a nation dominated by extremists. You’re either dead right or you’re dead wrong. There seems to no longer be any middle ground. Far right or far left, with an ever decreasing political center.

Candidates seem to be wearing rose-colored glasses, uncritically and unquestioningly following their party’s talking points. No one is listening. Compromise is a dirty word. Negotiation is a sign of weakness. Partisanship at any cost is flowing like an ever-growing rivulet through the labyrinth of government bureaucracies.

In the meantime, across the globe, far-right politicians are winning elections by stoking fears, fanning the flames of unrest, and appealing to the poor and disenfranchised. And the climate change deniers who are now in charge are ignoring the facts and crying hoax while our planet is dying.

Please, America, be sure to vote a week from today. We need to stop this insanity.

Written for these one-word prompts: Ragtag Daily Prompt (dead), Fandango’s One-Word Challenge (center), Scotts Daily Prompt (glasses), Word of the Day Challenge (rivulet), Your Daily Word Prompt (labyrinth), and Daily Addictions (globe).

Share Your World — Coffee and Climate

Fandango37 Comments

SYW

Time for another series of Share Your World questions from Melanie. Here goes:

If you drink coffee, how do you like it best? Hot, cold, iced, with cream, with sugar or black as black?

I do, indeed, drink coffee. Only hot coffee, only black coffee sweetened with one packet of Splenda.91AC3DFE-3D90-4FA1-A8D3-84E94D02B5D9

In your opinion, what’s the greatest invention of our age?

I’m using it to respond to Melanie’s SYW questions: the iPhone.94C25DF7-A8B9-4F49-8EBA-4B671FB8D0AE

Global warming? Reality or myth?

Global warming (aka, climate change) is reality. The Bible is myth.Once upon a time

Are you an explorer or more a home body?

I used to be an explorer back in the day. Now that I’m retired (and old), I’ve become more of a home body.DB8ADFC3-4E20-4196-96B8-FA8D97D53972

What were you grateful for this week?

Hmm. Other than I’m still alive and well (as are my wife, kids, and pets), I can’t honestly think of anything else. But maybe that’s enough.C0CAC0E9-781C-4507-8991-576E84794DFD

Mellow Yellow

Fandango18 Comments

Yellow sky

The photo above is un-retouched. It hasn’t been run through any filter or photo editing app. This is what the sky over San Francisco looked like early yesterday morning. It had a brownish-yellow tint to it, which lasted until late morning. It was really quite eerie.

The cause of this unusual sky was wildfires in Lake, Napa, and Yolo counties located to the northeast of San Francisco. Strong southeasterly winds sent smoke and ash drifting across the Bay Area, the result of which was the sky taking on that sickish tint.

By Saturday night, the Yolo County fire had turned into a 32,500-acre blaze in the face of what is called “red-flag” weather conditions — high temperatures, gusty winds and low humidity — on land dried by years of drought. As of last night, it was only 2% contained and firefighters ordered evacuations.

The wildfire season in Northern California typically starts in the fall, after hot, dry summer months leave brush and woods primed to burn. But this year, as in recent years, the fires have come early. And they aren’t likely to end any time soon.

But don’t worry, this climate change thing is a Chinese hoax. And yellow skies filled with smoke and ash are pretty, aren’t they?