Daily Archives: February 18, 2016

Mountains, Shadow Mountain, Weather +Climate

At 8,800 feet

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Imbolc                                                                                                Valentine Moon

These chinook winds are formidable. Here’s the weather advisory for today:

High Wind Warning remains in effect until noon MST Friday... 

* timing... southwest winds will increase in the Front Range
  foothills through the afternoon... peaking in the late afternoon
  and evening hours.

* Winds... west to southwest 30 to 45 mph with gusts to 80 mph
  mainly above 7500 feet. West to northwest winds 35 to 50 mph
  with possible gusts to around 90 mph tonight and Friday
  morning.

* Impacts... people planning travel should be prepared for very
  strong cross winds causing hazardous driving conditions. Hikers
  should be alert for falling trees. Power outages will also be
  possible.


And, just to add something extra to winter: a red flag warning.


Red flag warning remains in effect until 6 PM MST this evening
for wind and low relative humidity for areas south and southeast
of Denver... fire weather zones 216... 241... 245... 246... and 247... 

* affected area... fire weather zones 216... 241... 245... 246 and 
  247.

* Timing... gusty winds will continue through with humidities
  dropping. Winds will remain very strong this evening but
  humidities will increase.


A red flag warning means that critical fire weather conditions
are either occurring now or will occur shortly. A combination of
strong winds... low relative humidities... and dry fuels can
contribute to extreme fire behavior.  If a fire is started or
ongoing the potential for it to rapidly spread is high.
Writing

Anarchy and Its Result

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Imbolc                                                                                    Valentine Moon

There’s a military build-up by NATO along the Russian front. The Chinese have just placed missile batteries in the Paracel Islands of the South China Sea and North Korea talks about hydrogen bombs. This is in addition, of course, to the ongoing conflicts in the Middle East and Afghanistan.

Since anarchy is the mode of international governance, excepting the small ways in which the United Nations works, it’s not surprising that there are constantly flash points where one nation’s interests rub up against another’s. It’s also not surprising that wars break out, flare, then settle back down, much like inflammations in our body.

This particular constellation of geopolitical sabre rattling has me a bit unsettled. For those of us born in the immediate aftermath of WWII, Korea came next. A police action. Right. Then, the cold war with all its duck and cover drills, spy versus spy, satellites and constant international tension. Vietnam. Bosnia. Afghanistan. Iraq. Afghanistan again. Libya. These were hot wars.

Friend Mark Odegard said in a recent e-mail, “Not sure I like the Russian build up along the borders, nor the US build up, this could get to be a hot war, Putin and Trump what a pair.”

We baby-boomers have lived our entire lives in either the shadow of war or its grim reality. This long run of extreme military engagements started with the war to end all wars, WWI and has rolled on, more or less continuously, ever since. We do not know a world truly at peace, have not known such a world.

I write this because it’s easy to get up, go to work, go out to eat, have family holidays, go to a ballgame, read a book and not even recall that the world is such a violent place. That at this very moment bombs are dropping, people are getting shot. It’s important to remember, to stay informed. How else can we advocate sensible policy? How else can we see the dramatic danger in Ted Cruz’s carpet bombing or Trump’s easy assertion that he’ll “take care of ISIS.” This election matters so much, for so many reasons, but one reason is to retain a measured US military response.

Dogs

A Close Friend

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Imbolc                                                                            Valentine Moon

at the door400Vega’s surgery went well, though it took an hour and a half longer than expected. “She’s a muscular dog,” the vet tech said. Later in the evening a phone call from Dr. Palmini, the vet, “Yes, it went longer because of her muscular shoulder. But that bodes well for her recovery.”

(Vega, orange collar, Gertie and Kepler)

Hard to imagine a close friend of seven years in surgery, losing a limb. Yesterday had its anxious moments. The heart loves who and what it will, from dogs to landscapes, to friends and family and art. Loving Vega has always been easy.

We bought a twin sized inflatable mattress for her recovery. It’s going in the lower level, so she won’t have to navigate stairs while she learns to walk on three legs. I’m sure she’ll be chuffing and organizing our lives again soon.