My article describing (in part) our experiences that led up to our evacuation from the North Carolina mountains after the catastrophic damage caused by Hurricane Helene.
Knowing that internet links have a habit of disappearing I’ll try to locate my original text that was submitted and post it here.
Katherine Hayhoe is a well known climate scientist who is focussed on the opportunities that we as humans have to change our climate for the betterment of all humankind. Her newsletter always includes a "Good News" segment and it is always worth hearing some good news on this subject.
Her May 29, 2024 news letter is curated by a guest writer this month. Dr. Joellen Russell is on of the founders of Science Moms a group of mothers who are also climate scientists. The below extended quote is from that newsletter that came out today.
"Despite what you might think from listening to political advertising and more than a few media reports, US carbon emissions dropped last year at the same time that the economy grew.
Yes, that’s right! Last year, the US economy grew by 2.5 percent while the total carbon emissions by decreased by 2-3 percent, according to the US Energy Information Administration. US emissions are now down 20 percent from the all-time high in 2007, according to the EIA.
That’s not the only good news. Americans, on their own, are consistently choosing to save money by reducing their own energy costs, whether it is through more efficient lighting, electric cars, better windows, etc. Although per-capita emissions are still at the high end of the global scale, the US has gone from emitting around 20 percent of the global total of CO2 annually in 2000 to less than 12 percent of the global total in 2023."
It really appears that the changes both small and large are starting to make a measurable impact on the forces that are driving climate change. This is "Good News"! So share it with a friend or neighbor if you get a chance. Thanks for reading!
Freddy and Jane on one of their recent adventures.
My post on FaceBook:
I was only 19 years old when I first met Freddy. As a confirmed introvert who preferred being a wallflower I met this guy who was confident and outgoing. At first he seemed “dangerous”, but it was soon apparent that I was mistaking dangerous for “daring”.
Our friendship, lasting 50 years, ended Friday May 3rd when Freddy left behind this physical world for the Next Great Adventure. It was one week ago today (Saturday April 27) that I spoke with Freddy and Jane in the ICU. Freddy was on oxygen but was coherent as we spoke. We discussed the trip Debbie and I were making in 2 days to Tybee Island. I also told him that I was composing a piece of ambient music for him. “It’s almost finished”, I told him.He said he was interested in hearing it when I got it finished. I told him he was going to be all right and that I loved him. He reciprocated with “I love you man”.
If I listed all of the small building blocks of my life that came into being exclusively because of Freddy it would take a while. Just a few: he taught me how to eat raw oysters, he taught me how to cook a steak on a grill, he introduced me to a broad palette of fine Kentucky bourbons, he was the first to put a special cigar in my mouth (a cigar made in a small island country South of Florida) and light it, he was the first person (that I knew of my age) who owned stock, he was the first to introduce me to the joys of hot peppers (there’s a great story behind that one).
If you knew Freddy from way back then, you knew he was one of the strongest people you’d ever meet. I still remember helping him move furniture on to a rental truck once. There were two of us on one end of this gigantic piece of furniture and we were about to die! He held up the opposite end with just one hand.
Freddy taught me a number of life lessons and one of them was the importance of having a generous spirit. He was a generous man and his example shaped me to a certain degree. While I never achieved his level of benevolence, he did push my needle in the correct direction.
In many ways Freddy was “bigger than life”, and one way I was reminded of that was when we hugged. Whether it was a greeting or a departure there was no better hug than a Freddy hug. It was like hugging and being hugged by Mount Everest and a benevolent bear at the same time. This I will miss.
The four of us travelled on the only cruise ship I’ve ever sailed on, Holland America’s Westerdam. This was an Alaskan cruise and it was a total blast. Being there with Debbie, Jane and Freddy made the trip perfect.
His love for his wife, children and grandchildren was absolute. We grew up with their kids and watched them mature into responsible adults. An untimely accident took Joshua’s life and while it altered the family landscape forever, this beautiful family carried on buoyed by their faith in God. Their daughter Loriahn has two sons and a daughter. Freddy and Jane loved being grandparents to those three.
This could carry on forever, but I’ll bring it to a close for now. Please pray for Jane, Loriahn, Eddie and the grandkids as they navigate these trying waters. May their memories of Freddy be a comfort to them during this season of grief.
Freddy will always reside in my heart and in my mind.
A link to the almost finished piece of music, called simply “C F E”, (after Freddy’s initials), can be found in the comments.
https://on.soundcloud.com/bfMCErybdKJNzdQ59
Some people set up a false either-or dichotomy to simplify their argument or their world view. The truth of the matter (as Asimov explains) is that we inhabit a both-and experience.
“How often people speak of art and science as though they were two entirely different things, with no interconnection. An artist is emotional, they think, and uses only his intuition; he sees all at once and has no need of reason. A scientist is cold, they think, and uses only his reason; he argues carefully step by step, and needs no imagination. That is all wrong. The true artist is quite rational as well as imaginative and knows what he is doing; if he does not, his art suffers. The true scientist is quite imaginative as well as rational, and sometimes leaps to solutions where reason can follow only slowly; if he does not, his science suffers.”
This post will likely be out of date sometime in the near future as more recordings are made but for this moment in time it is likely 95% correct and comprehensive. EDIT: Update on July 22, 2023 down below. EDIT: Update on August 31, 2023 down below. EDIT: Update on September 1, 2023 below.
This was pretty surprising to receive and quite gratifying. I’ve “hidden”my poetry for most of the last 50 years. The only time before it was released to the world was my first book which was self published on Blurb. Published in 2011 the book “Noetic Furniture” is available in multiple formats.
This time I’ve selected online publishing because I’m 68 years old and if I don’t publish, this work may perish ;) I just started uploading to All Poetry in January and have not uploaded much of my work yet. The goal is to choose the works that I’d attempt to publish in a book and put them out there for the public.
I’ve already had an unexpected conversation with my friend Thomas (a musician and writer) who “caught” my first poetry upload quite randomly! What a surprise that was!
This is the link to my complete All Poetry collection under my name Nimrod Scott. While they added my poem to the ‘picks’ section today (and I don’t know how long it will stay there), I’ll link to it here so it will be a place where you can find other poetry judged worthy of this accolade.
Richie Havens - “Handsome Johnny”
Bob Dylan - “Masters of War”
Peter, Paul & Mary - “Where Have all the Flowers Gone”
Buffy Sainte-Marie - “Universal Soldier”
The Association - “ Requiem for the Masses”
The Byrds - “Draft Morning”
Eric Burdon & The Animals - “Sky Pilot”
The Hollies - “You Know The Score”
Barry McGuire - “Eve of Destruction “
Note: This is a list of performers and songs. In a few cases the songs were written by others (not the performer) and this list does not attempt to deny copyright in any way.
Art work attribution: https://www.bethelwoodscenter.org/blog/the-peace-symbol-woodstock-history
