The Heat is On!

It’s 96 F in the high desert of New Mexico. The South West USA has been in a heat dome for 6 weeks. At the 36 degree parallel, the sun bears down on the open mesa. The brilliant light so coveted during most of the year feels merciless. No monsoon this year; desert plants are surviving on stored spring moisture. Clouds form during the day and travel SW to NE towards the Rocky Mountains.. They hang against the tall peaks of Mt Pueblo and Mt Wheeler, but rarely let loose with refreshing rain. El Nino is having its effect on the season. Luckily, builders insulated the walls and roof of my adobe style home to keep out heat in the summer and cold temperatures in the winter. It’s how it’s done in the desert. I’ve closed blinds, windows and doors to keep in the coolness collected during the night. Fans and a breezy, shady covered portal keep me cool enough when I crave the outdoors.

Climate Change doesn't discriminate
Not everyone has my luck. People across the globe are suffering from intense heat without reprieve. Extreme temperatures are causing wildfires in Europe, leading to the evacuation of tourists. Africa is experiencing famine, because of extreme temps and domestic wars. The electric grids are straining to provide the energy to cool living spaces. Everyone is waiting for it to be over.

Will it be over? Yes and no, the season will change, temperatures will drop. People will not forget this one. Cities are repainting their concrete desert with cooling paint for the next time. Low-income neighborhoods get help in upgrading the electric grid for housing and install air conditioning. Europeans, notorious for not having Airco, are changing their minds. People who cannot change their circumstances think about moving. Migration is in full swing. Migration away from violence, economic hardship, and climate. People migrate to Europe, USA, and Canada, where life is good.

Migration on the Rise
That’s changing. Migrants are inundating the borders of countries who’ve robbed the rest of the world of their resources to make life more comfortable, luxurious, and secure. Media images of men, women and children on their way to a better life, show them laying in the desert, out of water, a hot wind blowing. What about those adrift on a capsized raft in the Mediterranean? The images haunt me. We must create space despite the influence of the changing climate and extreme weather on us. We have to make room in our life for others. Share what we've enjoyed by reducing consumption. We’ve lived on credit, we’ve lived without being responsible for the next 7 generations. We’ve lived for now and for our own tomorrow. The bill is coming due.

Space for Everyone
Don’t panic! There is enough space and food for everyone. Let’s share the livible space we have. We must adjust to living in smaller, more energy-efficient homes. Our travel for pleasure may have to be less frequent and closer to home. We can take more eco-friendly forms of transportation: a train, our walking legs. If agricultural practices can’t adjust to the new demands of conserving water, and develop restorative farming practices, we’ll have to produce more of our own food. This is more energy efficient and has positive mental and physical side effects. Look at how the Japanese utilized space for living and growing for so long. We can learn from each other and from the past.
The hollyhocks are waving their pink, yellow, white and maroon flowers in the afternoon wind. A little field mouse scurries between the pavers looking for seeds. The basil in my little garden bed is ready for picking. Pesto pasta tonight for me. Idyllic or practical? Everything hangs together and if we acknowledge this truth and live accordingly, we can survive. Doing your part matters.

The Wild Things
It’s easy to become overwhelmed with the state of the world. As an individual, sometimes the only option is to go out and be with the "wild things" as Wendell Berry suggests:
“When despair for the world grows in me
and I wake in the night at the least sound
in fear of what my life and my children’s lives may be,
I go and lie down where the wood drake
rests in his beauty on the water, and the great heron feeds.
I come into the peace of wild things
who do not tax their lives with forethought
of grief.”
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Do not “tax your life with forethought of grief”. Do what you can at this moment. The bill is due. The sun can cause you to hide or take action. Concerned citizens can change things locally. As an individual, you can create a peaceful state of mind.

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