The Election

Tuesday's election is just a horrible memory.  Today I'm vacillating between Kübler-Ross stages Anger and Acceptance.  No denial, no bargaining, no depression.  While Trump rolled up very nearly the same number of votes as he did in 2020 (81M), Harris underperformed on Biden's 87M with a measly 72M.  Where did those 15M voters go if the polls were showing things as tied or certainly within the margin of error?  

In AZ, Trump won and so did Democratic Senate candidate Rubin Gallego.  Is it just that the Trump brand doesn't transfer to low quality down-ballot candidates?  Senate losses in MI, WI, and probably NV (but not PA) seem to indicate so.  

 Over in the Senate, it looks like 52-48.  There goes the Supreme Court.  In the House, final numbers are still not out, but the GOP is inching closer to control.  If they gain a trifecta, things will go very bad, probably very quickly.  Having an unfettered criminal grifter in the White House means that he'll have free access to new methods of self-aggrandizement and almost complete lack of judicial accountability.  

Trump will once again pull the plug on the Paris Accords.  His oil & gas-friendly policies will result in substantial damage to pristine areas as drilling resumes and atmospheric CO₂ will increase its climb.  Global warming is having significant effects on climate change.  Expect more hurricanes, tornados, coastal flooding, and intense rain, flash flooding, along with raising sea levels, higher summer temperatures and warmer winters for most areas.  Then there's the flipside:  drought, extreme temperature swings, wildfire, and other frequent severe weather events.  

We've just had an all-together unsatisfactory biodiversity COP.  Now COP29 for climate change is looking to follow suit.  The CEO of the event in Azerbaijan was filmed making side agreements with petrochemical executives.  Has the oil & gas lobby already won the next round?  

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In my biological reading this week, I came across a year-old article about the loss of pinon trees and the collapse of pinon jay populations.  I'll be curious if we see a flock of them in the neighbor's large pine tree this fall as they migrate across the valley to the lower elevation P-J areas on the West Mesa.  

We're still seeing plenty of finches and lesser gold finches at the feeders.  Spotted Towees and doves feast on the seeds that are dropped to the ground by the messy eaters on the feeders.  Fluffy Cat doesn't seem to bother them or else they are simply too wary to be caught.  

Speaking of Fluffy, she spent the snow storm in her heated space under the table.  The snow made her quite skittish, but now (Saturday) she's back to her normal behaviors.  We were expecting colder temperatures tonight but it's barely below freezing.  Amazingly, some flowers in the garden are still blooming or at least not frozen off.  Salvias under the tree, Gaura next to the house, and Verbena near the heated fountain seem to be doing best.  The two Ginkgos under the Chinese pistache have finally turned yellow, but not fully.  It may be several days before leaf drop.