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Turning of the Year
We have had no winter here in the San Joaquin Valley of California. The days have remained in the upper 60's and 70's throughout the months of January, rarely dropping lower since our very brief autumn in November.
I awoke Thursday morning to the feeling of a definite shift in the Earth's energy. The quickening has begun; Imbolc is upon us, a week early. I suspect an early spring and a long, long, hot, dry summer here; the governor of California has already declared a drought. (Something those of us who are paying attention already knew long ago.) The Valley is rapidly returning to the desert it once was thousands of years ago, hastened by the hand of Man.
Yes, it is turning into a desert. Actually, a lot of California was originally a desert...and the problem is, people these days either don't know that, forget it, or don't care. They want it to be a tropical island...or a Celtic island. LOL I remember when I was first bitten by the hiraeth...it was all I could do not to try to overhaul my surroundings so that I could feel like I was in Wales. It was awful! But then I realized I was put here for a reason, and subjected myself to the will of the Universe...at least for now. But I HATE the summers, and I swear this Valley is going to kill me, if not by the heat, then surely (more surely, perhaps) by the pollution and the allergies I have developed here.
Part of what has made the situation worse -- although the farmers would not agree -- is that the damming up of the rivers into reservoirs has changed the watersheds and natural marshland and vernal pools that used to feed the earth, native plants and animals. They have diverted the water into irrigation which has taken it away from other areas of the state. The ambient temperature near water can be up to 20 degrees cooler than away from it. Then of course everyone has swimming pools, which has raised the humidity. When I was a kid growing up, the summers were dry, not the winters...and the heat was much easier to take. Now the summers are humid and hot, and this old lady can't handle that! LOL I'll never move to Florida, that's for sure!
I saw an allergist a few weeks ago, and he said this is the worst he has ever seen the Valley. He was coming back from a weekend in Santa Cruz, and as he came over the mountain, the pollution was so bad, he couldn't believe it. He said because of the lack of rain to wash the particles out of the air, we have both the dry air (not good for our air passageways) AND the particulates to deal with.
Have you ever breathed in Tule fog? When I go to the coast and it's foggy, it's like breathing in a soothing cool vapor mist. Tule fog is full of dust, which carries the chemicals and pollutants they spray on the crops and whatever other crap that is in the ground these days, because it rises out of the ground. It can choke you, besides being depressing, as it sometimes doesn't lift for days; it lies like a brownish-gray blanket right over your head. You have to get above it to see the sun.
Ack! Well, I've been on my druidic soapbox again. LOL Yes, I was put here for a reason all right...I love the Earth and even this god-forsaken place, in her natural state, would be a thing of beauty, but people keep screwing it up because of their greed and short-sightedness. *sigh*
I was down in LA last weekend and, although I've lived there before through several winters, I was surprised to find how warm it was, and how dry. For a while, it seemed like there would be rain and water but I think the last few years have been really dry, haven't they? It is turning more and more into desert and I wonder sometimes what will become of the area.