Climate Change is Not Going Away

No matter what the climate change deniers say or think, the problem is not going away.  One of the first places that have responded has been insurance companies.  Markets in disaster prone areas are raising premiums in order to offset losses during catastrophic events.  Think recent hurricanes and wildfires, but also midwestern tornados and the Gulf Coast blizzard.  

“Climate change is posing a systemic risk to the financial system, through insurance and housing, and it means it will get harder to get a mortgage and more people will be driven to state plans,” Jones said. “We will have to shore up these plans because they are going to face problems when there’s a catastrophic event.

“None of this is not going to get any better unless we address the climate crisis. We aren’t going to be able to de-regulate our way out of this, as Florida has shown. We have to address the underlying cause, which is climate change.”

Snow in New Bern, SC

Escape from the Dumpster Fire

Today is perhaps the saddest MLK day.  It coincides with the inauguration of a court-adjudicated rapist, a convicted felon (34 times!), an avowed racists, and a thief of national security documents.  No doubt his administration will cause much harm in terms of the economy and international security, it is the 4 years that will be lost to climate change mitigation that will hurt the most, the longest.  

Tomorrow, along with the convicted felon's promise to begin deporting brown-skinned people, we will see a polar outbreak the likes of which we haven't seen since 1983.  Snowfall in New Orleans is forecast to be near a half foot, the most since 1963 (yes, that is six and three).  

Meanwhile, fires in the Los Angeles area continue to burn, although the Santa Ana winds seem to have given firefighters a little breathing room.  The damages in California will be in the many billions of dollars.  

My escape from this dumpster fire:  cooking, home & hearth, gardens, nature walks.  

Baguettes and Soufflés

Took advantage of a cold day to stay inside with Caro and Deb to do some cooking.  The result was a batch of baguettes, a beautiful soufflé, and a side of roast squash with sage cooked in brown butter.

I am reminded that food is critical part of the human energy system.  Not only do we need it to fuel our biological metabolism, but its growth, production, shipment, storage, and preparation contribute a huge amount to our global carbon output.  The very least I can do is carefully, mindfully, respectfully use the ingredients I am given.  I am thankful.  

Meanwhile, tonight's reading includes an essay on Huldufólk, the elves of Iceland.  Amazing how strongly a belief system can affect one's relationship with the natural world.  The majority Judeo-Christian view of a god-created hierarchy with nature subservient to man is the cause of much of our 21st century woe.  

Right now wildfires are still burning in Los Angeles and Malibu with thousands of homes and structures lost.  Like building on hurricane-prone shorelines, construction in a fire disclimax like a chaparral is a recipe for disaster.  Unless buildings are constructed to high standards, disasters will just keep repeating themselves every decade or two. 

Winter is Coming!

Once again, it's time to quote John Snow in "Game of Thrones."   Last week we were 15° above average, now this week the temperature has crashed.  This morning was chilly, but by afternoon the winds kicked up and that really put an edge on the cold.

Fluffy the feral cat has been keeping to her heated bed under the table in the backyard.  The wind doesn't blow straight in, so she's pretty well off.  I've given her triple rations this evening to keep her internal furnace burning.  

Because the winds are coming through Tijeras Canyon out of the east, we're not seeing the usual cold air pooling in the North Valley.  Instead, it's 23° up in the Heights and only 32°.  

I'm sure the local avian fauna will be glad that I filled the feeders the other day, both for gold finches and for the generalists.  The pond heater in the Bodhisattva fountain keeps that flowing, even in the coldest weather.    Fluffy doesn't mind that there's unfrozen water available.  

Weather Underground tells us that a smattering of snow is headed our way for the morning.  We desperately need moisture; we've had only a trace of precipitation here since our early November storm.  

Glad I took down most of the holiday decorations this morning.  Baldo will have the lucky job of taking down the strings of lights and boxing them away.  Thank goodness for a climate-controlled storage area; we'll be able to stash things away in relative comfort.  

There's dead-heading and cutting back to be down this afternoon if the wind abides and subsides.  It'll be chilly but not life-threatening.  With that the backyard garden will be in its stable winter mode.  The turtles are deep underground.  The bonsai are safely under cover or in the garage.  The big ones are able to handle the temperatures we've had without being moved or even covered.  I've left 2 Ginkgoes under the Chinese pistache and I expect they'll do fine, even if their pots are only moderate.  

Speaking of Ginkgo, for the day's photo, I'm including a scan of a page from John Naka's book on bonsai.  Here are his soil formulae.  

And speaking of soil mixtures, at least yesterday while it was sunny, I threw together a gritty soil mix for the bulbs.  Then we managed to get outside and get them planted.  It's a mixture of tulips, daffodils, and Hyacinth.  We'll see what comes up in a couple months.  

Baccharis species

Yesterday was the first foray of the new year out into the Cottonwood Gallery.  With construction at the Garden focused on the Heritage Farm railroad and the new Lebanese Garden, we've been able to return more or less to our path through the farm to get to our Nature's Notebook plots.  

We were greeted by the new critters on the farm and some of the old.  Bugsy the horse and the Churro sheep were in their paddocks.  Then, out past the new demonstration garden beds, the Highland cows (coos) and miniature donkeys were grazing.  

We made our observations in good time and, while we were at it, collected material for determining which Baccharis species we have.  I spent a fair piece of time with 3x, 10x and 40x optics once back at my desk.  

• Leaves:  Distally serrate with 3 nerves 
• Involucres:  Obconic to campanulate (upside-down cone or bell-shaped), not hemispheric (half of a sphere, very rounded); staminate ~4 mm, pistillate ~7 mm
• Pistillate florets:  <30
• Staminate florets:  ~20
• Phyllaries:  4-6 mm
• Heads:  Leafy paniculiform (branching on an elongated axis), not corymbiform (somewhat flattened)

All those characteristics align with B. salicina, not B. salicifolia.  

Leaf with 3 nerves and distal teeth

Obconic involucre