We Told You So.

Yeah, somebody needs to say it, I think; and as I peruse the international news today- nobody is.

A great measure of the effectiveness of the climate denial troops in squashing the dialogue.

That and the basic politeness of good people.  This would not be considered the best time to be getting all hoity-toity - about anything.  A whole lot of people are in a great deal of pain.  We should all just be quiet, and help each other out, right?

Except- that's what climate change warners (such as me) have been TRYING to do - for decades now. Prevent human anguish.

And here we are.  Yes, Hurricane Sandy is a direct result of human caused climate change, brought about by burning way too much fossil fuel, to power "economic growth".

Being silent about it- won't help either.

Big headline at the moment; Gov. Christie of New Jersey is cited by CNN as saying:


"Superstorm Sandy left wreckage in its wake 'beyond anything I thought I'd ever see,' New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie said at a news conference today.

'The level of devastation at the Jersey Shore is unthinkable,' he said."

Except - it isn't unthinkable, nor beyond what we expected- it's right smack in the middle of mainstream climate change predictions.  Hotter oceans cause bigger storms cause bigger storm surges- floods eastern coastal US cities.  Duh.

So.  Maybe we shouldn't be shy about saying "We told you so."

And maybe we should start saying "You're a goddamn liar." to the deniers; regularly.  Right out loud.

Just to soften my harsh message, a tiny bit- I'll point out I have a long track record of insisting on people hearing the "I told you so", when it's appropriate; this is Smidgen, age 5 (now 7.5) - after "being silly on the stairs" - one time too many.

You see- Smidgen was the one who insisted on my writing that on her cast; she was eager for it.  Because?  She'd already heard the story, many times, about my writing it on the cast her big brother Beelar had to have on his leg, years before...

A little perspective...

We have a little internal conflict these days in the Little House; Spice is deeply engaged by, and involved in, the US presidential election bustle; and I am not.

I freely admit that when I was her age, I was all tangled up by it.  But, having seen many presidential elections come and go (the first one I remember was Eisenhower...) - I find it all a great deal less exciting these days.

Is it important?  Well, sure.

But- it may help you relax if you can come to truly understand - that what you see going on in the public media is a performance; not government.  And the performances you see have little to do with what will actually happen after the elections.

So; really; you might as well relax a bit; and enjoy the chorus lines.  Because that's what they are; well rehearsed, singing and dancing scripts written by professionals who are not on stage, and yes, occasionally one trips and stumbles on stage, so we can all go "oooo!"

And, there are the old troupers, and the ingénues.

In amongst all the frenzied kerfuffing (neologism alert) about last nights Biden-Ryan tango, what came to my mind most prominently was Biden's better grasp of old, old advice, long available.

What matters is the emotions engendered, long after the dance; all the "logic" invoked will have been long since lost when voters step into their booths.  Was this person strong, or weak; is what will be remembered.

And in that vein of thought, what I dredged out of my ancient neuro archives was this patter song from a very old Danny Kaye movie; The Inspector General.

For those not familiar- Danny is playing an ignorant, illiterate, sub-peasant; who suddenly finds the people in this village believe him to be the Inspector General sent to root out corruption.  Admitting he is not, will likely get him hanged.  So- this is his pondering how to - fool everyone.

Which- is what politicians do, you know.

Enjoy the song; I love it dearly.  And the wisdom it contains is vastly larger than you might think at first.


As usual; if the Blogger player is cranky; go straight to YouTube for it.  Be patient!  It's a long clip, a bit uneven, but with very tasty bits.

Enjoy!!

Might as well.

One of my favorite lines of all times:  "Up off your knees!!  STOP LICKING MY BOOTS!"

:-)

That and the end of the song; "Give 'em the Fist! Give 'em the Wrist! Give 'em the ....  "  oh, my.  He slipped one past the censors there, the rascal!  The original audiences had to be gasping.

Another maple dance.

Once again, conditions were not quite right this year for the amazing phenomenon I came to think was "normal"; 20 years ago.

We were watching; and were rewarded for that.  But the majority of the big compound leaves, walnuts, butternuts, hickories, and ash- were stripped off the trees by 30 mph winds in the two days before the frost.  So once again, we had a modest version, performed mostly by our sugar maples, with a few turns from the wild black cherries.

Attempts to take video have so far failed to capture anything vaguely resembling the experience; now I'd rather just see; watch.  But the end results can give you some idea:

Oh, hurray!  Blogger seems to have decided that this time it will let you click on the pic, and you can see it in its original, much bigger, format.  So far!  The photo, incidentally, is completely natural- I didn't touch or rearrange a single leaf.

It made quite a carpet, all lying flat as they fell in the calm.  Another change- this year our sugar maples had more red in their colors than I ever remember seeing; usually ours give us yellows, only.  Why?  You can find lots of educated answers- but keep in mind the educated guessers all thought our colors would be poor this year, because of the long drought and heat- but in fact the colors have been unusually bright.

Gone now, of course; they curl as they dry in the sun; fade and tumble when the wind comes up.

Lovely, while it lasts.

Keep your eyes open...

Hi folks-

As always- I'm sorry I've not been writing more often; and will try to do better.   : - )

Mostly it's the crazy weather; which makes for crazy work schedules, all out of whack.  And the confusion levels; which are globally in the upper stratosphere, on any topic.  And harvest.  Etc.

But- I wanted to remind older readers about the autumn phenomenon I first wrote about in 2007; and point out- this may be the year for you to see it.  Locally; I think our trees and leaves are poised for something like this to happen - and in the next few days.  The leaves this year are keeping me enthralled; we've got more red in our sugar maples than I've ever seen, in 30+ years; and- all the experts missed predicting all this color, which tickles me. (I'm way more expert than those guys- I learned to not even try predicting, years ago.)   : - )

The original post is here; give it a read- then, get your morning coffee ready, and keep your eyes open.  And- let me know what you see.