“ample moisture &
moderate temperatures have translated into later than normal fall colors,” sez ken lassman’s kaw valley almanac, “so this coming weekend’s maple leaf festival in baldwin will likely not see much in the way of brilliantly colored maple leaves.” his book, wild douglas county (2007) sez ashes & elms turn yellow by now; locusts hackberries walnuts almost bare: well, that was then this is now, & I’m seeing nothing but green out the window. meanwhile wildflowers blossom on the 70th parallel north, in melting permafrost. lovely, but unnatural. not the same as losing house or life or limb, but hard not to take them as portents, these little things, esp those of us who get sentimental about birds & bees & such. & remember the jet stream? the “conveyor belt” of the weather? well, now it looks more like a worm cut into pieces, each part wriggling independent of the rest. new england “braces" for second nor'easter in two weeks – "costly beach erosion," etc.; but in the dakotas, it's more serious: second oct. 11 snowfall in 145 yrs.: & est. one-third of corn & one-fifth of soybeans had yet to reach full maturity" (farmers are finding out all about climate chaos – they even make earmuffs for cows, now); texas just had its hottest september (hottest-ever september worldwide, in fact); & that 115 f temp in colo. this summer? hottest ever in that state. meanwhile india had its wettest september on record. & in e. honshu (japan), another day, another 36”of rain – “my frightened daughter can’t stop shaking” (evacuee); plenty to shake about for adults, too: levees around tokyo barely held: the civil engineer sez the city is “not in any way ready yet” for a typhoon hagibis; & the number of hungry people in the world rose from 785 million in 2015 to 822 million in 2018, largely due to climate disasters (you’re not hungry, mabye, but it’s hard to keep starving people away from food) flooding in the w. of Ireland, tornado in the east – signs & portents (of a bang or a whimper?); 100 wildfires in lebanon, on top of 3 million trees already incinerated, “equivalent to all trees planted in reforestation initiatives over the last 15 years” & meanwhile back in the u.s. of a., the presidential debate discussed the climate catastrophe for all of how many minutes. & our city govt here in lawrence, kansas, is thinking potholes . . .
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June 2021
Kristin Prevallet Author/Editor
I'm a writer & teacher in Lawrence, Kansas who actually believes the scientists. I wrote a book of poems called Of Some Sky that seems to have something to do with all this. |