Rain? What rain? Climate change? What climate?

Today was a work day for me out at AutoCamp, smack in the middle of Guerneville, so I ventured out.  Got there and it was already impossible to walk through the gravel parking lot without getting your feet wet, so much standing water. The crew of three people (I was the fourth) was in a holding pattern, deciding whether or not to move quickly to tow the Airstreams out or wait and see what the flood stage would be.  Within an hour it was clear that flooding wasn't going to be a "what if" but a "when." Tow companies were called, reservations for the weekend were cancelled, everything that was out on the grounds was either moved inside or secured with ropes. Around noon the first tow truck arrived and Airstreams were towed to higher ground.

The road to Jenn and Dar's house flooded yesterday, and below is a photo of that road..... they are on higher ground so are fine and knowing my daughter, they have a freezer full of food. But still, it will be a few days before that dissipates. 



At the same time, John and Diane in Oregon have been snowed in for days. Wow.... what a winter!  And if you read the national news, the flooding in the south, in Tennessee and Mississippi and other states has been brutal, roads washed out, homes destroyed, and on and on.

Climate change does not exist, however. This is just fine, just a tiny bit different from normal, nothing to worry about.  Jerry Brown, our governor here until this past January, phrased it well in November, talking about the wildfires we have experienced in the past two years:  "This is not the new normal. This is the new abnormal."  We go from drought to floods, from swamp to wildfires, from record cold to record heat. And that's just in California.

For this moment we are focusing on the rain and flooding. It is too bad we (everyone, everywhere, especially those in power) didn't focus on the climate when there was a chance to mitigate the effects that depletion of the ozone layer would cause. Even today there could be measures put in place that would help, but our lame elected officials are mostly too worried about the next election and their lobbyists to come down stridently for drastic legislation to slow down the effects of this climate debacle. 

Last August 2018 the New York Times devoted the entire Sunday Magazine to this one topic. I will include the link below, but be prepared to spend an hour or two reading the issue. It is both remarkable and damning. But just google "NYT climate change articles" and read for hours. None of it is good.  Here is the link: https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2018/08/01/magazine/climate-change-losing-earth.html

Back to the personal: my small dog (he's not that small, 25 pounds, but has little fur) Cooper does not like the rain but he will venture out if it isn't too bad. The past 36 hours have been hard on him. Yesterday morning and this morning we were able to get out for a 20 minute walk in very mild rain, so he got to pee and poop like normal. After that, not so much. He will willingly let me put his little rain coat on him but of course he forgets that the raincoat means rain and thus he is disappointed as we exit our place and we face hard rain. But I know he needs to pee, and he does, but then all he wants to do is turn around and go back. Poop?  Nope.  Not enough poop is happening, so we go out way more than he would like just on the off chance poop will happen. Cooper usually poops three times a day. At least. He is down to two times a day right now..... 
I know, TMI about my dog, but hey, it's life.  I won't bring this up again, other than to say my ears are on alert... if I hear a tiny bit of let-up in the rain, I jump up and out we go, just in case. But the slow downs in the rain aren't happening, it keeps raining harder and harder.

OK over and out for now. Stay safe and dry out there.

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