Thursday, October 31, 2024

Happy Halloween!

Linus is not wrong! Even in 1966 when "It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown" came out on TV, and even in 1959 when Charles Schulz introduced it in the comic strips. Little did they even know the world ahead in 2024 during a pretty wild election year!

This year, may you have a wonderfully joyous and safe Halloween, with more treats than tricks. And, may we all survive the craziness of this year's Election Season--peacefully, respectfully, and honoring the power and privilege of a voting democracy. 


Linus Image & quote from https://dcbarroco.wordpress.com/2012/10/30/linus-van-pelt-on-life/, Happy Halloween image created at Canva.com

Saturday, October 26, 2024

Leaf Peeping 2024

The beauty of fall abounds. I'm underneath a gorgeously brilliant yellow-turning tree as I sit outside typing this morning. Not only is the weather amazing today, but so is the view. These glowing yellow leaves and the fire red trees of fall may be my favorite! I just love the subtlety of change with the colors every day during this time of year.

I ran across this image on Facebook from a meteorologist in my home state of Maryland, marking peak days across the state. Looks like we are hitting the prime "leaf peeping" days as the fall foliage color changes abound. 

Marylanders, you can get the Fall Foliage Report week-by-week here.

If you are like me and can't get enough of the beauty of the changing leaves, here are some resources to check out:

  • My own GTG's "Mapping Out Your Quest for Fall Foliage" from last year -- Here there are 2 links to data visualization websites to track nationwide how the leaves look this year on given dates. You can also glean some science along the way.
  • GTG's "Fall Foliage 2021" -- Here you can find a link to the Farmer's Almanac and a state-by-state list of when peak colors have peaked, or soon will.
In the meantime, get yourself outside and check out some leaves of your own. Watch them fall for a little while--for it IS... FALL! Shuffle your feet and take advantage of hearing the crunch underfoot. Make it be ones of the treats of Halloween Season!

Fall tree image from my camera, map from Justin Berk, Meteorologist's Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=pfbid02v5eMZ4SBdbGJLcjB54RtreEC7L5E33LgmgGVCx8cLgxzrHw1w7x7h2iqhesGu2DAl&id=100044454488732, original image from https://news.maryland.gov/dnr/2024/10/24/fall-foliage-report-for-october-24-2024/

Saturday, October 19, 2024

Climate Change Course Comes to College

According to the Education Data Initiative's website, approximately 19 million people went to college this fall in some capacity: full or part time, freshman through senior. undergraduate or graduate status. 

As a parent of "big kids," I know a few of those 19 million people.

The purpose of college follows this quote of Oprah Winfrey:
“Education is the key to unlocking the world, a passport to freedom.” 
Additionally....
  • Education is a lantern that lights up our mind, illuminating knowledge. 
  • It's a compass that guides us to navigate through fact, fiction, mis- and disinformation, understanding, and perspective. 
  • College is a bridge to new ideas, an avenue to insight, and a doorway to the future. 
This year, one college is opening that door even further for their new first-year students. UC San Diego has added the Jane Teranes Climate Change Education Requirement. This new course requirement was named for a long time professor of the Scripps Institution of Oceanography in November of 2023.

Beginning this fall, student schedules over their college tenure will need to have a one-quarter class on the subject of climate change. (UC San Diego runs on a quarter system.) Students have a choice of selecting one of many classes from a range of many cross-disciplinary options. Why? Being a school that has had long ties to climate research, UC San Diego and its administration solidified this commitment to broaden global awareness and create a mindset of environmental problem solvers. This change in their college requirements does not affect the total number of requirements as this class will overlap with the current general education/diversity requirements.

Click here to see the approved courses, nearly 50 classes ranging from Climate Justice, Religion & Ecology, Climate Ethics, Ocean Studies, Literature and the environment, and more.

Imagine a world where 19 million people heightened their awareness by taking a class in eco-stewardship.  Think about where we our world would be.

If this has gotten you curious to expand your own climate change knowledge, check out UC San Diego's Scripps Institute of Oceanography Climate Change Resources page.

Saturday, October 12, 2024

25 years

I recently celebrated my 25th wedding anniversary. Here's a condensed version of what I shared among friends regarding this milestone...

25: What a weird number when you start looking at it in the context of your life. Mainly--How are we "that" old? How have we been with ONE person "that" long? I mean, seriously, we don't feel that old! 

25: That's XXV in Roman Numerals, 5 squared, two & a half dozen, the sum of the first five consecutive odd natural numbers: 1 + 3 + 5 + 7 + 9, & a quarter of a century. (Back to that weird number thing.)

Looking back... 
...We have seen a hurricane reroute our wedding in 24-hour window, followed up by a flight-induced sinus infection which sidetracked our honeymoon. A layover, an ER trip, and steroids got us back on track to our desired honeymoon destination.

....We wrestled the roller coaster ride of having a premature baby 8 weeks early at 32 weeks versus the typical 40. During my 2-week hospital hangout prior to our wee one's arrival, I attended my brother's wedding by phone, long before Zoom days. Then 6 days later we welcomed a very tiny baby at a whopping 3 lb 1.3 oz. I came home first, then our wee one stayed in the NICU for 5 weeks, but grew solid, strong, and healthy, and we all never looked back.

....We welcomed Baby #2 into our family 3 years later, who always kept us on our toes when young. Now, that one is on the cusp of adulthood, tackling college, serious-minded, working hard, and pointed toward their own goals.

In these 25 years, we...
  • have lived in 2 different states with at least 6 addresses to call home;
  • have had 6-7 jobs between us, owned a handful of cars, & had 3 crazy canines;
  • survived surgeries and replacement parts and are both officially "new and improved;"
  • made lifelong friendships, lost loved ones, and grown stronger together in so many ways;
  • endured all the parts of parenting: taking family vacations, watching countless soccer/sport games/kid concerts/more, tackling intensive homework projects, teaching kids to drive, getting wisdom teeth out, watching our kids walk high school graduation stages, and the list goes on.

9,131 days is a lot of days!

In thinking about 25 years of "my" days, I mentally shifted to what else has changed in these 25 years of days. Newsworthy events which will make the history books. We've seen...
  • The Y2K roll over to 2000 and all lived to tell the tale.
  • The election of the first African-American President in 2008: Barack Obama.
  • The legalization of same sex marriage in 2015.
  • The NASA confirmation of water on Mars in 2015.
  • The #MeToo movement of 2017 and the #BlackLivesMatter movement of 2020 to strengthen both women's rights when it comes to sexual harassment and abuse and greater equality and justice for Black Americans.
  • The rise of technology in so many ways--from the development of the first iPhone in 2007 by Steve Jobs which catapulted tech innovation to include the pros and cons of such things as social media, cryptocurrency, and artificial intelligence to new levels.
  • The COVD-19 Pandemic, a year of shutdown (including 2020 Zoom-style graduations & weddings & at home, online learning, though luckily with the swift move of science and modern medicine we were able to create vaccines and come out from behind our medical masks.
  • The shifts in the British Royal Family with the death of Queen Mother in 2002 at age 101, the marriage of Prince William & Kate Middleton in 2011 and Prince Henry & Meghan Markle 2018,  the lengthy 70 reign of Queen Elizabeth II with her death 2022 which led to the coronation of King Charles III in 2023.

And environmentally, we've seen many major environmental strides these past 25 years with...
  • The Paris Climate Agreement was adopted in 2015 where only nearly every country in the world (minus Syria & Nicaragua) united to fight climate change. Likewise that same year, the UN Sustainable Development Goals were created.
  • A rise in renewable energy sources such as solar and wind power as well as electric vehicles.
  • Conservation strides such as growth in Marine Protected areas, the Trillion Tree Initiative to aid in reforestation, and endangered species recovery, downgrading their status from endangered to vulnerable for the giant panda and the American eagle, among others. 
  • Shifts and advances in sustainable agriculture which have helped biodiversity and grown organic farming.
  • Efforts to ban single use plastics and create more biodegradable materials while also increasing efforts on a company level for circular economy practices.
  • Forward movement with green technology such as carbon capture and greater energy-efficient home appliances. 
  • Steps toward greater environmental justice and awareness with movements working toward Indigenous land rights and louder voices from youth activists such as Greta Thunberg.

All of this goes to show us that even though sometimes while we feel like "the more things change, the more they stay the same," we actually CAN see and feel the forward movement. 

This level of awareness makes 25 years definitely worth celebrating!

Images created at Canva.com

Saturday, October 5, 2024

Once Again...Trying to Reason With Hurricane Season

This year's hurricane season is shaping up to be a doozy.

We've already seen the wallop and carnage that Hurricane Helene left in her wake from September 24--29, 2024. Making landfall as a Category 4 storm, Helene had major hits in Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia, and Tennessee. In the Big Bend region of Florida, this was the 3rd major storm in 13 months. The Tampa Bay Area was hit with record breaking storm surges. Major roads, bridges, buildings, and homes were washed out along with damaged electrical lines. Georgia's farming industry took a major hit, knocking out 1/3 of both the cotton and peanut crops, over 200 poultry house, and more than 40,000 acres of pecans. Flooding deeply affectect North Carolina, leaving some roads slated to remain in disrepair until March of 2025. People throughout the region are still without power, without drinkable water, people are still missing, 230+ people died, and entire communities are devastated. 

Estimated damage: Somewhere between $145 -- $165 billion.


Now, not even two weeks later, Hurricane Milton is lined up to take a hit as a potential Category 3 hurricane. Again on Florida's western coast, again coming across the Gulf of Mexico. This time, it is tracking further south than the Big Bend area of Florida where Helene hit, with the Tampa Bay Area being a potential point of landfall this Wednesday, October 9th. The path additionally is currently projected to cross Central Florida. The good news of this is that it hopefully will track south of the Helene-saturated states just north of Florida. The bad news is that the Tampa area is still heavily in clean up mode from Helene. Schools in that area are already closed from Monday to Wednesday to allow time to plan boarding up and evacuations.

We lived in Florida for 6 years. Hurricane preparation is no fun. It's nowhere near as benign as a northern snow day off of school.


With ocean water temperatures on the rise, we are having more and more "once in a lifetime hurricanes." In fact, they are coming at a frequency of 3 times more often than 100 years ago, and with numbers doubling since 1980

They definitely show us that Mother Nature is in charge--we aren't!

What you can do to offer hurricane relief and assistance?

1. Watch out for misinformation. This season, potentially with the US election ahead and political agendas, rumors abound. Check out the facts here: FEMA's Hurricane Helene: Rumor Response

2. Donate to trustworthy agencies and organizations. The American Red Cross and UNICEF are doing a lot for hurricane relief.

3. Volunteer when and where it is safe. If your local community is affected, or one near you, look to see if, when, and where you can volunteer. To learn more, check out FEMA's hurricane relief webpage.

4. If you are in the path of a hurricane, follow the local recommendations for evacuation and safety measures.