Monday, January 27, 2014

This Time There IS Something In the Air

Snow is in tomorrow's forecast.

It is warm and raining right now, but don't let that fool you. We've had snow in March after a warm weekend and rain.

Snow is now predicted at least once a year in Alabama. This is a definite climate change. I remember snow twice from my childhood. (Every single year on my birthday I wished for snow so I wouldn't have to go to school. Only got my wish once.) Starting in my mid-20's, snowing began appearing on a somewhat-regular basis each January. Of course, for most of my life I lived through the 20-year drought. If there's not enough moisture to make rain, there sure isn't enough to make snow.

But now I know there will be snow at least once. And it could be we came out of the drought not for natural reasons, but for global climate change. Some people think the climate changes all by itself. It might do that very thing, but we don't need to help it along by dumping chemicals everywhere.

I think it's part of the job of being a Witch to understand her land base. I think, if nothing else, a Witch should observe her environment. If she can't make it better, she can at least not do harm. It takes a long time to heal land. It takes years of community clean-ups, careful voting, and trying to balance the needs of the land versus the needs of the people. The land needs clean water and trees. We need that, but we also need jobs and industry. Factories are notorious for cutting down every tree in sight.

I don't have any answers for you. I can't tell you how to improve your personal patch of Earth because every land is different. I can't even decide if tourism is a good thing; yes, it brings in money but sadly, more people consume more resources HOWEVER most Americans only experience nature in state parks. Maybe if we had more nature around us we wouldn't feel the need to drive hundreds of miles to go camping.

But I can tell you that when it snows, you should enjoy it.

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