For a cautiously optimistic view of saving our planet, go to YouTube and type “Chasing Carbon Zero/PBS/NOVA/Full Documentary.” in the search bar. This worked for me. (When I tried posting the URL, there was a message that the video was unavailable.)
Please Note: This post was written from my own experiences in Florida. I learned about environmental topics from news and documentaries, and I did some basic research while writing poems about Florida animals. I am not a scientist, just a retired elementary school teacher who cares about the environment.
It’s a big world! Please feel free to provide additional information from your experiences and perspective in the comments. Thank you. 🙂
Ongoing Effects of Hurricane Ian & Other Disasters
I think the internet is finally fixed! Monday the technician tightened a loose wire at the central box! Our internet, TV, and house phones were off for five days, the third such outage since the hurricane shook things up. Robert is out $250 for a modem the internet provider had recommended. It didn’t solve the problem, and Robert returned it, but they said they had never received it and refused to refund the money.
I got up one morning last week and discovered that a tree had fallen from the wooded lot behind us onto the power company right-of-way behind our house… five months after the hurricane!
It cost $1, 200 to get this large oak tree cut up and removed. The new roof, wall repairs, and previous tree removal are covered by homeowner’s insurance, but not this tree!
What will it profit a man if he gains the whole world
and loses his own soul?
Bible, New International Version, Mark 8:36
No good deed goes unpunished!
Oscar Wilde
Karma
A corrupt quartet
sought profit from others’ loss,
but karma stepped in!
Inflicting loss on others,
without gain, they sold their souls.
On Saturday afternoon, I was shopping at Publix supermarket when a woman, who apparently spoke little English, came up from behind me. Saying “Please,” she pointed and gestured for me to reach a product on a high shelf for her. Two times I tried, and she shook her head, but the third time I handed her the item, and she said,”Thank you.” When I went to the checkout a few minutes later, I discovered that my wallet was missing.
Suddenly, I realized the significance of my encounter with the woman and told a manager what had happened. Publix security cameras clearly showed a man acting as a lookout, a woman distracting me by asking me for help, and another woman removing my wallet from my tote bag in five seconds! The theft was recorded at 3:59. At 4:15, before I even missed my wallet, the security camera at the Walmart across a four-lane highway recorded the thieves trying to use my credit cards to pay for $504.94 worth of drinks and other groceries.There must have been a fourth person filling the cart at Walmart while the other three were robbing me.
All the cards they tried to use were declined because the credit card companies’ records show that I rarely spend more than $100 at the grocery store. All the four thieves got for their trouble was $8 in cash and incriminating videos in two stores. I hope they are caught and can never again do this to anyone else!
The wallet contained my drivers license, voter registration card, insurance and credit cards, checkbook, and my $450 car key fob. I will never again put my key fob, check book, and every card I possess in my wallet. I will never again leave my wallet in a tote bag, but will carry it in a small cross-body purse or a fanny pack. You are never too old to learn to do things differently!
A Publix Manager said that in the seven years he had been at the store, no customer had ever been robbed. Lucky me…I am the first! After I waited for two hours at Publix for the police, The manager gave me my groceries for free, and one of the Publix employees took me home and brought Robert back to pick up the car. I soon had to return to the store to fill out a police report. Finally, late that night, I got a chance to cancel my cards and order new ones.
The next three days were spent at Motor Vehicles (twice) who wanted proof of residence, the bank (twice), who needed my driver’s license, and the bureau of elections. I had to change my checking account and online banking and call Social Security and insurance companies about changes in my direct deposit. I contacted Medicare, AAA, AARP…The details are endless, but I am gaining on them. Though everyone has been unbelievably helpful, it has been an ordeal!
I don’t know how I could have managed without Robert’s help! While I was waiting at Motor Vehicles and the bank, I wrote a Valentine poem for Robert and later made it into a card.
Yesterday, we went to the car dealership to replace my key fob and reprogram Robert’s. When we returned, there were eight roofers on our roof installing new shingles. Robert and I were nervous about the shingles we had selected, but we are very happy with the finished roof! The next thing we have to do is hire someone to repair the numerous hairline cracks in our walls that appeared in the weeks after Hurricane Ian…
Robert followed up his recent pacemaker surgery with a cardiologist last week. Many tests are scheduled, some this week, some after Robert’s daughter visits in a couple of weeks. Then my daughters are coming in March, and we are planning a road trip. I will post the photos!
No need to worry. I promise you, I will not be bored anytime soon!
It was the “sixties” and I had just entered my teens. My somewhat older peers were becoming “hippies,” “turning on and dropping out,”marching for civil rights, and burning their draft cards. I remember causing quite a stir on the school bus with my newly self-inflicted “Beatles haircut,” and was clandestinely reading my cousin’s Mad Magazine, learning guitar chords, singing Joan Baez songs, and telling “knock-knock”and disgusting “green hair” jokes with my friends.
My uncle, who had served in World War II in Europe, described, with his usual drama, people making cider by pressing apples through straw. He thought that was pretty unsanitary. Inspired, I wrote this cheery little song to “gross out” my brother and sister and our friends and to annoy our parents.
After a frustrating week with no internet, I am posting this little ditty I wrote in high school. You have been warned!
I will be trying to catch up on my emails, and I look forward to reading your blogs. ❤
Christmas Tree, Dnipro, Ukraine. Photo by Valentyn Cherretskyi from UnSplash.
Envision Peace on Earth
Tears are falling still.
Destruction and death drag on.
Love of country remains
in the hearts of the people
who fight and die for Ukraine.
Photo by Sebbi Strauch from UnSplash.
Brave Ukrainians
work, endure, celebrate life,
smile, laugh, play, sing, dance!
They light the candles of hope,
envisioning peace on earth.
A protest in Japan. Photo by Breakify from UnSplash.
Our war-weary world
remembers; Sovereignity
defended world-wide
preserves the rights and freedoms
deeply cherished by ourselves.
Protest in Berlin, Germany. Photo by Dea Andreea from UnSplash.
Dictators may rise,
seizing control over nations,
ending human rights.
Tyrants may try to dominate…
even your country or mine.
Ukrainian flag flying in Norway. Photo by Anastasiia Dudnyk from UnSplash.
The world remembers,
“Eternal vigilance is
the price of freedom.”
Ukraine, you are not alone.
We share your vision of peace.
Children’s paintings on display in Prague, Czechia. Photo byYura Khomitskyi from UnSplash.
Protest at the White House in Washington, DC. Photo by Gayatri Malhotra from UnSplash. Demonstrations in support of Ukraine have been held in cities and towns across the USA.
“Eternalvigilance is the price of liberty.“
This famous saying seems particularly applicapable in our times. In various forms, it became popular in the early days of the United States of America. Variations are attributed to many people, including Thomas Jefferson and Patrick Henry. It is thought to have originated from an earlier quote. “The condition upon which God hath given liberty to man is eternal vigilance.” John Philpott Curran, Dublin, Ireland, 1790
Bumper Sticker in Seoul, South Korea. Photo by Lenny Honn from UnSplash.
The photos in this post show some of the many countries that support Ukraine.
I wish I could show all of them!
Poland has sheltered huge numbers of refugees fleeing the war in Ukraine. A demonstration in Poland. Photo by Eugene T Kachenko
Protesters in Lithuania. Photo by Dovile Ramoskaite from UnSplash.
Calgary, Canada. Photo by Ahmed Zalabany from UnSplash.
Photo by Ahmed Zalabany from UnSplash.
St. Basil’s Cathedral, Moscow, Russia. Russian citizens have suffered as a result of the war against Ukraine. Protests in Russia have been suppressed, and many protesters have been arrested, jailed, or have disappeared. Large numbers of young Russian men have fled the draft into neighboring countries.
A Demonstration in France. Photo by Cedric VT from UnSplash.
London. Photo by Ehimetalor Akere Unuabona from UnSplash.
A protest against atrocities comitted against Ukrainian civilians. London, England. Photo by Andreea De Santis from UnSplash.
Zimbabwe. Girl supporting Ukraine. Photo by Ben Masora from UnSplash.
Vienna, Austria. Photo by Tetiana Shyshkina from UnSplash.
In peacetime, Ukraine supplies food to many countries. There are food shortages in some countries due to the war. Ukrainian wheat field. Photo by Polina Rytova from UnSplash.
A couple of weeks ago, we found undiscovered hurricane damage to our house. Dealing with the insurance company, roofing companies, and contractors is consuming a lot of time and energy, and I have had to put my planned projects on hold. The insurance company has approved a new roof, payment for tree removal, and some needed repairs. Contractors are very busy with all the damage to properties here, and ours is not an emergency, so it may be some months before the work is completed.
Nearly every culture has celebrations incorporating light. Bonfires, torches, lamps, candles, fireworks…all light the way to our best selves and a better world. Diwali is a beautiful and joyous festival, but what seems extraordinary to me is its universal message…nine simple words with the power to transform the individual and the world:
Gulf Coast Poet 