Since coming to Colorado ten days ago I have been reading James Michener's Centennial. It's about the northeastern part of Colorado where the Platte River flows. I've been grateful to Michener for beginning the book in prehistory when diplodocus lived here, when the Ancestral Rockies rose out of the earth to thousands of feet and eroded to nothing through the millennia.
I found this perspective comforting. It made me realize that human beings are miniscule blip in time and that inhabitants of the earth, if any, will be vastly different from us. Many life forms have become extinct. We probably will join the ranks.
This summer I've felt that climate change is increasing exponentially and that we can't change it now. We might mitigate it a little. We might start preparing for the day when the oceans rise and wipe out coastal habitations. We might restrict our use of fossil fuels and pour effort into increasing renewable energy sources. We might do a lot of things, but we won't.
Here in Colorado forest fires have raged this summer and some are still smoldering. As it happens both of my Colorado destinations are partially burned – Colorado Springs and the Poudre River Valley. I've seen a lot of skeleton trees, scorched earth and foundations of burned houses. I saw the Poudre River run black after a rain.
These scenes have only reinforced what I've been living through – one of the worst summers in eastern Kansas history. We Americans have fouled not only our own nests but the nests of people all over the world. It saddens me greatly.
But here I am, breathing cool mountain air, enjoying the family gathering and enjoying walks along the river. Sorry, no photos until I get home. I'm at a wifi access cafe ten miles down the mountain. The connection is too slow to upload a photo. Wish I could show how beautiful it is. Wish you were here.
I found this perspective comforting. It made me realize that human beings are miniscule blip in time and that inhabitants of the earth, if any, will be vastly different from us. Many life forms have become extinct. We probably will join the ranks.
This summer I've felt that climate change is increasing exponentially and that we can't change it now. We might mitigate it a little. We might start preparing for the day when the oceans rise and wipe out coastal habitations. We might restrict our use of fossil fuels and pour effort into increasing renewable energy sources. We might do a lot of things, but we won't.
Here in Colorado forest fires have raged this summer and some are still smoldering. As it happens both of my Colorado destinations are partially burned – Colorado Springs and the Poudre River Valley. I've seen a lot of skeleton trees, scorched earth and foundations of burned houses. I saw the Poudre River run black after a rain.
These scenes have only reinforced what I've been living through – one of the worst summers in eastern Kansas history. We Americans have fouled not only our own nests but the nests of people all over the world. It saddens me greatly.
But here I am, breathing cool mountain air, enjoying the family gathering and enjoying walks along the river. Sorry, no photos until I get home. I'm at a wifi access cafe ten miles down the mountain. The connection is too slow to upload a photo. Wish I could show how beautiful it is. Wish you were here.
1 comment:
Happy you're having a good time on the Poudre!
We've been thinking about you everyday and wondering what's been going on up there!
Love you!
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