DoctorD's Diary

A bit of snow

We had a dusting of snow overnight.  The second slight snowfall we have had.

I'm expecting a lot more.  Last year, Lake Shore Drive was shut down in a severe blizzard.  We were trapped in our house for a couple days.  

It seems to me that the weather is much more severe than in the past.  I am, for sure, a believer in climate change or global warming.  Can't understand why some people aren't.

Ducks

Today I saw a whole family of ducks, walking along single file, kind of a bobbing little string of fuzz, feet, and heads.  The mother was in front six little ducklings trailed behind her.  They were crossing Willow Road--which is a very busy local thoroughfare, with four lanes for traffic--but the cars all stopped to let the ducks pass safely.  They crossed the road and went up through the grass by the woods and the pond, which hopefully provided a degree of cover. 

It was a wonderful sight, and just like the book, Make Way for Ducklings by Robert McCloskey, which I remember from my own childhood, and hope is still being widely read.  First published in 1941, the year before I was born, it is still in print.

This story was told (via email) to one of my step-grandchildren, an active and enthusiastic two-year-old.  He enjoyed it apparently, and said to his mother at the conclusion: "That's funny."  Whenever he is at our house, he looks for ducks particularly--but also geese, which are less favored.  And, there are ducks in a pond at his pre-school, which are frequently inspected, too.

He also likes trucks a lot, in their many varieties and purposes.  A normal boy-child, I think.  If he went down to Texas, he would find that nearly everyone drives a pick-up.

Ducks.  They are wonderful.  I am so glad we have some near here.

Weather worries

Really, I am feeling quite concerned about the tornados and other weather damage in the South Central states.  We were just down that way a couple of weeks ago.  Texas is very dry, and has fires.  The Mississippi was flooded, even before the great flood.  

Often, I think people are unaware.  But when you drive across the country, as we have, you see the problems, economic and otherwise.  We were in one small town in Louisiana that was completely devastated by Katrina.  People were still living there now, but only in trailers.  Nearby there were buildings that had their sides blown out.

It is all very worrisome--even if you don't believe that "the world is coming to an end."

Weather risks

Now they are talking about the possibility of serious flooding along the Mississippi at southern Illinois.

Well, we saw large and numerous farm fields and forests full of water down in that area.  The exact boundaries of the river itself seemed very indistinct.

We easily could have been caught in some of the wind/tornado damage, too.  We drove through the danger zone, just a couple of hours before the storms passed through.  If we had stopped for the night, as we considered, in West Memphis, we could have been a lot worse off.

We did see a couple of overturned trucks with trailers.  Now I am wondering if the wind might have caused that.

Weather and climate

On our swing through south we have seen terrible drought, and resultant fires, in a good part of Texas.  But on our way home, we have come across flooded fields near the Mississippi, and very significant storms.

April 2001  has been a month for the record books.  Indeed, this year so far has been one for the record books.

There is no doubt in my mind that the climate has been changing, becoming both warmer and more extreme, during my lifetime of about 70 years.  The real clincher for me was seeing, with my own eyes, how much the glaciers in the National Park of the same name have been shrinking.

And I challenge anyone who has been alive for 60 years or more to deny that they have seen similar changes.  As Bobbi D said, "you don't need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows."