White male, 72, northeastern Kansas, United States. Recorded Dec. 10, 2038.
It took a while for things to . . . well, to get pretty uncomfortable. Or as a friend said to me, he said, “shit is getting real.” That’s just how he said it: “shit is getting real.” First it was the irritations and annoyances. Ragweed growing and blooming longer, and so did hay fever. When it rained torrentially, there were more mosquitoes; when the winters were especially mild, there were oak mites in late summer. The county roads became impassable for weeks at a time, after the bomb cyclones. Of course, despite the rains, the grass didn’t make it through the summer, it was harder to keep the garden alive, and it wasn’t very pleasant to be outdoors, most days of the year. Fewer birds. Then the water starting creeping into our house when the downpours came; seemed like they were harder and faster and longer every time. And the healthy tree that was blown down on our roof by one of the straight-line winds – that cost us a lot. This was when you could still get homeowner’s insurance, and that paid for most of it. And fortunately, it could have been worse if there hadn’t been all the climate refugees desperate for work – even the President’s shoot-to-kill policy couldn’t keep back that many people – and Central America was getting drier, more anarchic. I guess they figured they’d die anyways, esp. with the gangs setting up provisional “governments.” And then there was folks from the coasts were having to move inland. Then the droughts and floods started knocking the bottom out of ag. You can only go so many years with a 50% yield. The Ogallala was practically dry – and what was left was too saline and expensive to pump – and further east, the Missouri flooded pretty much every year. So more small producers sold out to Big Ag. So, we were dealing with scarcity, but on top of that, monopoly: a loaf of bread and a gallon of milk started going for $10 (and we thought that was bad!). And we thought we were in pretty good shape, what with Clinton Lake. But it started sinking, which meant water fees went up a good 40% in the short term (esp. since the rich folks were paying the city officials a little extra for a lot more). And because the power plant used so much water, we started having the blackouts – which were permanent for the folks who couldn’t pay their bills, who were becoming more numerous. It was like they were squatting in their own homes, the ones who didn’t get evicted. Mind you, this was all before Hurricane Clemente plowed up the Houston Ship Channel and knocked out most of the refineries for good. They said capacity would be restored within two years, but gas is $8.50 a gallon and has been going up, so I’m not holding my breath, esp. since they’re saying this hurricane season will be worse than last year. When will the gas run out? That’s what we want to know.
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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. |